Department for Transport

Department for Transport: Welsh Language

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what translation arrangements his Department has put in place to enable efficient and accurate handling of Welsh language correspondence from (a) MPs and (b) the general public.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The Department for Transport and its Agencies, with the exception of the Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA), have published Welsh Language Schemes which include a commitment to reply with a signed letter in Welsh when someone writes to us in Welsh. The target times for replying to letters in Welsh are the same as for those in English. The VCA translates information for the New Car Fuel Consumption and CO2 guide from English into Welsh using a suitably qualified third party supplier each year. Should the VCA receive any correspondence in Welsh from an MP or member of the public a translation would be arranged and the MP would receive copies of the response in both Welsh and English. The Department for Transport uses the Crown Commercial Services translation framework to arrange translations.The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency uses the Welsh Language Unit to arrange translations. The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency engages the services of a specialist external service provider for translation services. The Maritime and Coastguard Agency uses a variety of external providers for translation services, depending on the size and nature of the task, and can also use cross-government frameworks.

High Speed Two

Dame Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 18 January 2018 to Question 122605 will he publish the clauses of the contract between HS2 Ltd and CEK JV for HS2 that guarantee the full delivery of the HS2 contract now that Carillion is unable to fulfil any part of that contract.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: As a Joint Venture CEK were subject to the following contractual clause: Z12 Joint and several liabilityZ12.1 If the Contractor is a Joint Venture(1) each of the parties comprising the Joint Venture are jointly and severally liable to the Employer for the performance of this contract and all liabilities, acts and omissions of the Contractor under or in connection with this contract are the liabilities, acts or omissions of each party comprising the Joint Venture under or in connection with this contract,(2) without limiting or prejudicing any other provisions of this contract, if any of the parties comprising the Joint Venture ceases to be a member of the Joint Venture or suffers one of the events described in clause 91.1, the other parties or party carry out and complete the works in accordance with this contract,(3) the Contractor gives notice to the Employer and the Project Manager as to which of the parties comprising the Joint Venture has the authority to bind the Contractor for all the purposes of this contract and(4) the Contractor keeps the Employer and the Project Manager informed promptly of any changes in the Joint Venture whether in relation to any incorporated entity or its constituent entities or the entities forming an unincorporated joint venture, including changes in legal status, the occurrence of any of the events described in clause 91.1, amalgamation, demerger, merger, deterioration in financial condition, de-ratings, major legal claims and suits, and any other matter or circumstance that could reasonably be deemed to be of concern to the Employer or the Project Manager. [Regarding (4) above, Carillion Construction Limited was subject to an ‘event described in clause 91.1’ when it was put into liquidation on 15 January 2018]

Cars: Ownership

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the rate of car ownership is in (a) Ashfield constituency, (b) Nottinghamshire and (c) England.

Jesse Norman: The Department does not hold information on the rate of car ownership in Ashfield constituency, Nottinghamshire and England. The Department does hold information on the number of registered vehicles. The number of licensed cars as at 30 September 2017 in (a) Ashfield constituency was 50,452 in (b) Nottinghamshire was 407,019 and in (c) England was 26,687,596. These figures include cars that are registered to private individuals and companies.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Energy: Billing

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate his Department has made of the average spend on energy bills by UK households in each year since 2010.

Claire Perry: Holding answer received on 20 February 2018



Based on estimated average annual consumption figures of 3,800kWh for standard electricity and 15,000kWh for gas, BEIS has published the following figures. Note that 2017 figures are provisional, with actual figures being published in March. In real terms, average (standard) electricity and gas bills (in 2010 prices) are: ElectricityGasCombined2010£474£564£1,0382011£503£605£1,1082012£523£662£1,1852013£547£690£1,2372014£551£701£1,2522015£541£661£1,2022016£532£591£1,1232017(p)£552£564£1,116  Notes:Figures in the table can be found in Table 221 and Table 231 of Quarterly Energy Prices:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/quarterly-energy-prices-december-2017

Energy: Meters

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the effect of the introduction of the pre-payment meter price cap on switching levels among customers in (a) Scotland, (b) England, (c) Wales and (d) Northern Ireland.

Claire Perry: The prepayment meter safeguard (price cap) tariff, set by the Competition and Markets Authority, includes a degree of ‘headroom’, to allow suppliers to offer competitive deals beneath the level of the cap and incentivise switching. The for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy publish quarterly domestic energy switching statistics provided by Ofgem. The latest data published in December 2017 shows 1,284,000 electricity meters and 1,110,000 gas meters switched energy supplier in Q3 of 2017. We do not hold data that provides a breakdown of the number of switches by payment type. Latest switching data is available here, at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/quarterly-domestic-energy-switching-statistics

Warm Home Discount Scheme: Disability

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to ensure that disabled people with high energy costs receive support through the Warm Home Discount scheme.

Claire Perry: Some disabled people are able to receive the Warm Home Discount currently if they are in receipt of qualifying benefits or if they meet the criteria determined by their energy supplier. Government will be consulting shortly on changes to the Warm Home Discount for 2018/19. We will also be consulting soon on the Energy Company Obligation proposing reforms to focus the whole scheme on low income and vulnerable households.

Energy: Disability

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to ensure that disabled people are not penalised in the energy market because of their impairment or condition.

Claire Perry: The Gas Act 1986 and the Electricity Act 1989 require Ofgem to have particular regard to the interests of individuals who are disabled or chronically sick, when performing their principle duty to protect the interests of consumers.Ofgem require energy suppliers and network operators to establish and maintain a Priority Service Register of their domestic customers, who, due to their personal characteristics or who are in a vulnerable situation need support to manage their energy. These customers are entitled to free, non-financial services related to access, safety and communication. Services can be tailored to customers’ individual needs – for example establishing a picture card system for customers with learning difficulties so that representatives can enter the house.Low income households in receipt of qualifying benefits are entitled to receive Warm Home Discount - £140 rebate on their electricity bills each year. Households on disability allowance are eligible for Energy Company Obligation (ECO) support if a Local Authority declares them as fuel poor or on a low income and vulnerable to cold, via a flexible eligibility declaration.

Fuel Poverty

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the number of people living in fuel poverty in the (a) Vale of Clwyd and (b) UK in each of the last six years.

Claire Perry: Fuel poverty is a devolved matter and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial strategy does not hold data on fuel poverty in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland. Each nation in the UK has its own fuel poverty definition, targets and policies to tackle the issue. As each country uses different measures and heating assumptions, an overall UK figure is not available. The latest fuel poverty statistics for Wales can be found at: http://gov.wales/topics/environmentcountryside/energy/fuelpoverty/fuel-poverty-levels/?lang=en

Low Pay: Universal Credit

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will include in the Government's response to the Taylor Review provisions to ensure that low-paid workers on zero-hours contracts are aware of their entitlement to Universal Credit.

Andrew Griffiths: The Government Response to the Taylor Review of Modern Working Practices was published on 7 February this year, alongside four public consultations. The Review did not focus specifically on Universal Credit, but did identified the difficulties people encounter relating to income insecurity when working atypical work patterns, such as on zero hours contracts. Responsibility for ensuring all people, including those who work on zero hours contracts, are aware of their entitlement to Universal Credit is a matter for the Department for Work and Pensions.

Jaguar Land Rover: Halewood

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent discussions he has held with representatives of Jaguar Land Rover on the future of its Halewood manufacturing plant after the UK leaves the EU.

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent discussions he has held with representatives of Jaguar Land Rover on the future of its Halewood manufacturing plant after the increase in fuel excise duty in April 2018.

Richard Harrington: We have regular dialogue with key stakeholders in the automotive sector such as Jaguar Land Rover about a wide range of matters, including the challenges that leaving the EU poses and the opportunities that will become open to us.

Business: Sustainable Development

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what his policy is on sustainability reporting for UK businesses.

Andrew Griffiths: Currently, all UK registered companies, except those entitled to the small companies exemption, are required to file a strategic report as part of their annual report. This must include, to the extent necessary for an understanding of the development, performance or position of the company’s business, information relating to environmental matters. Quoted companies are also required to report, within their strategic reports, on:the impact of the company’s business on the environment, andsocial, community and human rights issues. Many UK companies choose to go further than this within their annual reports which the current flexible company law framework supports.

Utilities: Billing

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of making mandatory the provision of utility bills in accessible formats.

Andrew Griffiths: I would expect utility and other providers to be willing to supply bills in more accessible formats, such as in large print and braille upon request. In the energy sector, the Regulator Ofgem requires suppliers to establish and maintain a Priority Services Register of their vulnerable customers and provide them with appropriate mechanisms and arrangements including communications in an accessible format.

Research: International Cooperation

Douglas Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the timetable is for the launch of the International Research and Innovation Strategy.

Mr Sam Gyimah: International collaboration is at the heart of this Government’s ambition to ensure UK remains one of the best places in the world for research and innovation. As outlined in the Industrial Strategy, we will publish an International Research and Innovation Strategy. In many areas, we are already delivering. Last September we became the first nation to sign a formal Science and Innovation agreement with the United States. We signed a similar agreement with Canada. In December 2017, UK became the first nation to develop a joint Science and Innovation Strategy with China. More will come throughout this year. These agreements will provide new opportunities for our researchers, innovators, institutions and business to strengthen and extend their activities with international partners.

Conditions of Employment

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what legislative plans his Department has to protect workers employed by a contractor which either (a) ceases trading or (b) absconds; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Griffiths: The Insolvency Service’s Redundancy Payments Service can make statutory redundancy payments to the former employees of an employer that is unwilling or unable to make these payments. This would include an employer that ceases trading or absconds. The Department has no legislative plans to extend this protection.

Motor Vehicles: Manufacturing Industries

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the effect on the car industry in the (a) North East and (b) UK of the UK leaving the EU.

Richard Harrington: Holding answer received on 27 February 2018



I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave her on 26th February 2018 to Question 128893.

Conditions of Employment: EU Law

Jo Platt: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 22 February 2018 to Question 128106, for what reasons that answer did not confirm whether his Department is conducting a review of the potential effects on the economy of (a) amending and (b) removing existing EU-derived employment regulations.

Andrew Griffiths: Holding answer received on 27 February 2018



The previous answer set out the premise on which we are directing our work for the UK’s departure from the EU.

Commercial Secrets: EU Law

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether as part of the transposition of the Trade Secrets Directive into UK law, the Government plans to transpose Article 5 of that legislation which is excluded from the consultation.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The Government is seeking views on draft regulations to transpose the Trade Secrets Directive into UK law and launched a technical consultation on 19 February 2018. The Government is of the view that it is not necessary to transpose the provisions of Article 5 of the Directive as UK law already provides for such measures. However, the Government will consider any views to the contrary submitted to the consultation.

Carillion: Insolvency

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when he expects the  (a) Insolvency Service's investigation into the conduct of Carillion's directors and (b) Financial Reporting Council's investigation into the preparation of Carillion’s accounts to conclude; whether he has received any provisional conclusions; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Griffiths: For the official receiver, the amount of time an investigation takes is dependent on the size and complexity of the business. As this is a large and complex case, it is not possible at this early stage to specify a timeframe. Should the official receiver find any evidence of director misconduct this would be referred to the Insolvency Service for further investigation. The Secretary of State has not received any provisional conclusions from the investigation, nor would he expect to do so from either the official receiver or the insolvency service. Investigations by the official receiver and the insolvency service are conducted separately from Ministers, as is the making of decisions arising from investigations on any possible prosecution or director’s disqualification.For the Financial Reporting Council, the timing of the investigation depends on the size and complexity of the issues to be considered, but will be taken forward as quickly as possible. At the conclusion of an investigation, the matter may be referred to an independent tribunal which the FRC would convene for the purpose of hearing the case and determining final sanction.

Commercial Secrets: EU Law

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether the Government will take steps to ensure that the damages applicable to employees and former employees under the laws resulting from the transposition of the Trade Secrets Directive into UK law are set as low as possible, so as to ensure that the threat of high fines does not act as a disincentive to legitimate whistleblowing.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The Government is of the view that the law already protects whistle-blowers from employers seeking injunctions or damages against them for the disclosure of a trade secret. The transposition of the Trade Secrets Directive will not change the position. In view of this, there is no need for action to be taken with regard to the level of damages for legitimate whistleblowing.

Radioactive Materials

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when he plans to (a) consult on and (b) publish a draft charging agreement for a future UK State System for Accountability and Control of nuclear material.

Richard Harrington: A decision on cost recovery and charging arrangements will be subject to close engagement with industry and other key stakeholders, as well as public consultation. We intend to publish a public consultation and an impact assessment on the regulations later this year. If the decision is made for the Office for Nuclear Regulation to be able to recover costs from industry, further appropriate consultation and engagement would take place, most likely later this year. If appropriate, that consultation and engagement would include the publishing of a draft charging agreement.

Carillion: Insolvency

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent discussions he has had with companies inheriting contracts from Carillion on the extension of TUPE rights to Carillion employees; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Griffiths: Some elements of TUPE do not apply in liquidation, specifically the continuity of service to those employees who transfer to new employers. Importing employers may well decide to offer terms to transferring employees which recognise existing employment rights; that is a matter for the importing employer, though the Government has the aspiration to ensure transferred employees are no worse off. The Official Receiver is doing all he can to facilitate this wherever possible.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

British Overseas Territories: Manufacturing Industries

Stewart Malcolm McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to assist the re-development of old manufacturing industries in UK overseas territories to ensure they become (a) self-sufficient and (b) environmentally friendly.

Sir Alan Duncan: ​The inhabited Overseas Territories are self-governing with locally elected representatives who lead on matters related to economic, industrial and environmental policy amongst others and who decide on which sectors to prioritise for development. The UK Government fully supports Overseas Territory Governments in their efforts to deliver sustainable economic and environmental development. This support is provided through financial aid for the three Overseas Territories that are eligible to receive Official Development Assistance as well as programmes funded by the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Global Britain Fund and the Darwin Plus grant scheme for which all Overseas Territories are eligible.

Occupied Territories: Human Rights

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the annual report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and reports of the Office of the High Commissioner and the Secretary-General on Human rights situation in Palestine and other occupied Arab territories, published on 26 January 2018, what discussions he has had with his counterparts at the UN about the three companies identified in that report as involved in activities in Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories; and what discussions he has had with representatives of any of the three companies identified in that report.

Alistair Burt: Neither the Foreign Secretary nor I have had any discussions with counterparts at the UN about the three companies identified in that report, and have had no discussions with representatives of any of the three companies identified in that report.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Welsh Language

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what translation arrangements his Department has put in place to enable efficient and accurate handling of Welsh language correspondence from (a) MPs and (b) the general public.

Sir Alan Duncan: The volume of untranslated Welsh language correspondence the Foreign and Commonwealth Office receives is very low. Accordingly we do not have set procedures in place, but instead seek advice from the Wales Office on a case by case basis.

Nigeria: Ethnic Groups

Mr Charles Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what information the Government holds on recent reports of ethnic cleansing in areas of Nigeria; and if he will make a statement.

Harriett Baldwin: We continue to monitor the human rights situation in Nigeria closely and are concerned by reports of recent clashes in Adamawa State. We do not assess that there is institutionalised persecution of any ethnic groups by the Nigerian authorities, but continue to make clear to the Nigerian authorities the importance of transparent investigations of human rights violations, accountability at all levels, and the protection of civilians in conflict areas and in places of detention.

Syria: Armed Conflict

Mr Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the political and humanitarian situation in eastern Ghouta, Syria does not further escalate.

Alistair Burt: ​As I said in a statement on 20 February, the situation on the ground in Syria, particularly in Eastern Ghouta, is dire. We have called on the regime and its backers to cease their campaign of violence, to protect civilians and allow rapid and unhindered humanitarian access. We have raised our concerns at the International Syria Support Group and in the UN Security Council. As the UN has, we call on all parties to protect civilians and allow for safe, sustained and unimpeded access to all those in need in Syria. We also supported UN Security Council resolution 2401, unanimously adopted on 24 February which calls for a 30-day ceasefire in Syria to allow for delivery of humanitarian aid and medical evacuations which are urgently needed across Syria, but particularly in Eastern Ghouta. Those with influence over the regime must now ensure the ceasefire is implemented in full.

Gibraltar: ICT

Eddie Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions his Department have had with Gibraltar on their blockchain licensing regulations.

Sir Alan Duncan: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office have not had discussions with the Government of Gibraltar on this particular issue. The Government of Gibraltar is responsible for the provision of legislation related to economic matters, including blockchain licensing regulations, to the extent they do not otherwise cross into matters falling within the Governor's special responsibilities.

Kashmir: Politics and Government

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had on a long-term settlement of the Kashmir dispute ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in April 2018.

Mark Field: Both India and Pakistan are longstanding and important friends and allies of the UK with whom we discuss a variety of issues, including Kashmir. ​The UK's longstanding position is that it is for India and Pakistan to find a lasting political resolution to the situation in Kashmir, taking into account the wishes of the Kashmiri people. It is not for the UK to prescribe a solution or to act as a mediator. We encourage India and Pakistan to maintain positive dialogue and good relations, but the pace of progress must be for them to determine.

Kashmir: Politics and Government

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what his policy is on the establishment of a mediation panel to engage with interested parties to work towards a long-term settlement of the Kashmir dispute during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in April 2018.

Mark Field: The UK's longstanding position is that it is for India and Pakistan to find a lasting political resolution to the situation in Kashmir, taking into account the wishes of the Kashmiri people. It is not for the UK to prescribe a solution or to act as a mediator. We encourage India and Pakistan to maintain positive dialogue and good relations, but the pace of progress must be for them to determine.

Proscribed Organisations

Paul Masterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 19 February 2018 to Question 124805, what organisations the Government maintains relations with which include factions actively involved in terrorist activity.

Alistair Burt: It is the long-standing policy of the Government not to comment on matters relating to national security.

Syria: Politics and Government

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions his Department has had with the UN Envoy for Syria on airstrikes in Ghouta; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Burt: ​The UK has discussed the dire situation in Eastern Ghouta with the UN on numerous occasions and in several fora, including at the UN Security Council and with UN Envoy Staffan De Mistura and his team. The UK has also consistently raised its concerns at the Ceasefire Task Force meeting of the International Syria Support Group, attended by the Office of the Special Envoy for Syria. The Foreign Secretary made a statement in the House of Commons on 26 February regarding the tragic situation in Eastern Ghouta. He set out what actions the British Government is taking in response to the crisis, and called upon the Asad regime to respect the ceasefire demanded by UNSC resolution 2401 and allow delivery of aid to the enclave.

Iran: Prisoners

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he made representations to the Deputy Foreign Minister for Iran when he visited the UK on British nationals imprisoned in that country.

Alistair Burt: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he has plans to meet with the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture to discuss the case of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe.

Alistair Burt: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Department for Exiting the European Union

Doctors: Migrant Workers

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on retaining the services of doctors working in the NHS who originate from other EU countries after the UK leaves the EU.

Mr Robin Walker: I have regular discussions with my Cabinet colleagues on the issues relating to the UK’s exit from the European Union, including on citizens’ rights.We deeply value the contribution of all 150,000 EU citizens working in our health and care sector, they are vital to ensuring the effective delivery of services. Safeguarding the rights of EU citizens who are currently living in the UK, and ensuring reciprocal protections for UK nationals living in the EU was our first priority for negotiations.It is a commitment we have delivered. The agreement reached in December will secure the status of EU nationals working in our health and care system, including doctors, meaning they will be able to stay and enjoy broadly the same rights and benefits as they do now. This includes the continued recognition of qualifications obtained by EU doctors and nurses who are resident or frontier working in the UK when we leave.

Domestic Visits: Northern Ireland

Conor McGinn: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, how many times he has visited Northern Ireland since his appointment as Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union; and if he will set out the details of any such visits.

Mr Robin Walker: Avoiding a hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland is a key priority for the UK Government and we remain firmly committed to that objective. The Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union visited Northern Ireland in September 2016 meeting with the then Northern Ireland Executive and stakeholders including NI Screen and SONI (System Operator for Northern Ireland). I visited Northern Ireland with former Northern Ireland Office Minister Chloe Smith in September 2017, visiting the border and meeting with Re-Gen waste and InterTradeIreland. In October 2016, I met with representatives from Northern Ireland’s agriculture and food sector for a Business Advisory Group meeting. Northern Ireland Office Ministers have also conducted an extensive programme of engagement in Northern Ireland on EU exit with a wide range of stakeholders.

Department for Exiting the European Union: Welsh Language

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what translation arrangements his Department has put in place to enable efficient and accurate handling of Welsh language correspondence from (a) MPs and (b) the general public.

Mr Robin Walker: The Department for Exiting the European Union is committed to dealing with all Welsh language correspondence efficiently and accurately. When we receive Welsh language correspondence we seek advice from the Wales Office on a case by case basis.

Department for Exiting the European Union: Departmental Responsibilities

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, how many times he has met with the governments of (a) Gibraltar, (b) Crown Dependencies and (c) other UK Overseas Territories in the last 12 months.

Mr Robin Walker: The Government is committed to fully involving the Governments of the Crown Dependencies, Gibraltar and the other Overseas Territories as we leave the EU and we speak regularly at official and Ministerial level to ensure we are fulfilling this commitment. I am responsible for engagement with these governments and speak regularly with them, including through regular phone conversations, visits and meetings. In total, over the past twelve months, I have met a) the Government of Gibraltar on eight occasions; b) the governments of the other UK Overseas Territories’ on two occasions; and c) the governments of the Crown Dependencies on seven occasions. I have also visited Gibraltar and each of the Crown Dependencies within the last year.

Industry: West Midlands

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on industries in the (a) the West Midlands and (b) Coventry of the UK leaving the EU.

Suella Fernandes: The Government is undertaking a wide range of ongoing analysis in support of our EU exit negotiations and preparations. We are committed to getting the best possible deal for the United Kingdom - a deal that works for all parts of the UK, including the West Midlands and Coventry. We continue to engage with businesses and industry bodies from all sectors of the economy, and all regions and nations of the UK, in order to inform our negotiations.

Attorney General

Immigrants: Detainees

Afzal Khan: To ask the Attorney General, what steps the Crown Prosecution Service is taking as a result of the  BBC Panorama documentary, Undercover: Britain’s immigration secrets, broadcast on 4 September 2017.

Robert Buckland: Sussex Police have sought early investigative advice from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), South East Area, in respect of possible criminal offences. The CPS has received some documentation and had a meeting with the officer in charge of the investigation in February 2018.The police investigation is still ongoing and CPS will only be in a position to provide advice regarding charging or otherwise once all the papers are received.

Hare Coursing: Prosecutions

Dr Caroline Johnson: To ask the Attorney General, how many prosecutions there have been for offences relating to hare coursing in each police area in England in each year from 2014 to the last year for which data is available.

Robert Buckland: The Hunting Act 2004 introduced a prohibition against hare coursing. Under Section 5 of the Act, a person commits an offence if they participate in, attend, knowingly facilitate, or permit land owned by them to be used in a hare coursing event.The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) maintains a central record of the number of offences in which a prosecution commenced, including offences charged by way of Section 5 of the Hunting Act 2004 which covers England and Wales.The table below shows the number of these offences prosecuted and the police force area, in each of the last three years.-2014-20152015-20162016-2017Essex040Norfolk606Sussex002 648Data Source: CPS Case Management Information System There is no indication of the number of individual defendants prosecuted for these offences or the final outcome of the prosecution proceeding or if the charged offence was the substantive charge at the time of finalisation. It is often the case that defendants will be prosecuted for more than one offence in the same set of proceedings.

Hare Coursing: Convictions

Dr Caroline Johnson: To ask the Attorney General, how many prosecutions for offences relating to hare coursing led to a conviction in each police area in England in each year from 2014 to the last year for which data is available.

Robert Buckland: The Hunting Act 2004 introduced a prohibition against hare coursing. Under Section 5 of the Act, a person commits an offence if they participate in, attend, knowingly facilitate, or permit land owned by them to be used in a hare coursing event.The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) maintains a central record of the number of offences in which a prosecution commenced, including offences charged by way of Section 5 of the Hunting Act 2004 which covers England and Wales.The table below shows the number of these offences prosecuted and the police force area, in each of the last three years.-2014-20152015-20162016-2017Essex040Norfolk606Sussex002 648Data Source: CPS Case Management Information SystemThere is no indication of the number of individual defendants prosecuted for these offences or the final outcome of the prosecution proceeding or if the charged offence was the substantive charge at the time of finalisation. It is often the case that defendants will be prosecuted for more than one offence in the same set of proceedings.

Department for International Development

Palestinians: EU Aid

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what discussions she has had with her EU counterparts on (a) the establishment of the European Commission's €42.5m assistance package to the occupied Palestinian territories and (b) the allocation of funding from the the assistance package to projects in East Jerusalem.

Alistair Burt: The €42.5 million package is financed by the European Commission with the European Neighbourhood Instrument (ENI) which is one of the main sources of support from the European Union (EU) to the Palestinians. All decisions on the allocation of ENI funding go through the ENI Committee in Brussels, at which the UK is represented by officials. The ENI Committee discussed the allocation of €42.5 million to the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs), including the allocation of €14.9 million of this to projects in East Jerusalem, on 29 September 2017. Additionally, the EU held discussions on this new package of support with representatives from EU Member States in Jerusalem, including the UK.We regularly discuss support to the OPTs with EU institutions and other Member States in the relevant Council working groups, including the Council working party on Humanitarian Aid and Food Aid (COHAFA) and the Mashreq/Maghreb Working Party (MaMa).

Developing Countries: Internally Displaced People

Christina Rees: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what support her Department provides to internally displaced people; and if she will make a statement.

Alistair Burt: The UK is committed to meeting the needs of all displaced populations, including Internally Displaced Persons. We are providing more multiyear funding to support internally displaced populations and the communities that host them, through both humanitarian and longer term development programmes including those in Iraq, Nigeria, South Sudan and Yemen.We support, through core and bilateral funding, some of the key agencies involved in IDP response, including the UN office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).

Syria: Overseas Aid

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much funding the UK has provided to (a) UK organisations, (b) UN agencies, and (c) international and non-governmental organisations in Syria (i) in total and (ii) by organisation in each of the last five years.

Alistair Burt: Between financial years 2012/2013 and 2017/2018, DFID has provided £876 million to a range of partners implementing humanitarian projects in Syria. This figure excludes funding under the cross-government Conflict, Stability and Security Fund. During this period, DFID has provided £53.4 million to UK organisations, £487 million to UN agencies, £37.3 million to international organisations, and £280.4 million to international NGOs. In addition, £17.8 million has been provided for technical and in-kind assistance, and monitoring and evaluation activities. A breakdown by financial year is provided below. By financial year Agency TypeFY 2012/13  (spent)FY 2013/14  (spent)FY 2014/15 (spent)FY 2015/16 (spent)FY 2016/17 (spent)FY 2017/18 (allocated by Feb’18)TotalUN agencies£28.2m£79.5m£70.5m£110.7m£119.7m£78.5m£487.0mInternational organisations£3m£5m-£5m£23.4m£1m£37.3mInternational NGOs£5.1m£35.5m£64.1m£59m£51.6m£65.1m£280.4mUK organisations£2.5m£9.7m£14.8m£14.2m£12.2m-£53.4mOther funding£1.7m£3.9m£2.0m£4.3m£2.5m£3.2m£17.8mTotal£40m£134m£152m£193m£209m£148m£876m Aside from the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross, we have agreed with our NGO partners not to disclose publicly their identity because doing so could put their staff at risk.

Armed Conflict: Children

Stephen Gethins: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will review will her Department's civilian protection strategy in light of the recommendations in the 2018 Save the Children report, War on Children.

Alistair Burt: The Department for International Development does not have a specific civilian protection strategy. The Government’s 2017 Humanitarian Reform Policy sets out our objectives for, and approach to, protecting people in crises and upholding humanitarian norms and principles, laying out how we work for the protection of civilians.

Global Partnership for Education

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, for what reasons her Department's recent financial commitment to the Global Partnership for Education was less than the International Development Committee's recommendation.

Harriett Baldwin: The UKs pledge of £225 million over three years compares to the £210 million we spent over the previous four year period. Our annual contribution to the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) will increase by almost 50% to £75 million per year. We are the largest bilateral funder. The funding will be used to keep 850,000 children in school each year and train 170,000 teachers. This significant increase in funding reflects the results that GPE has achieved to date and our continued strong commitment to this mechanism.Our support for GPE goes beyond funding. We will continue to play an active role on the GPE board and we are committed to further increasing our engagement in developing countries to drive improvements in GPE’s delivery.Our pledge was less than that of the International Development Committee’s recommendation for three reasons. Whilst we are proud to remain GPE’s largest bilateral funder, it is important that other donors also pay their fair share. Secondly, GPE has made significant progress over the last replenishment period, but can continue to improve and demonstrate results. In particular, there is scope for GPE to drive greater improvements in teaching, deliver more for marginalised groups, and strengthen its country model to focus more robustly on quality and learning. Finally, we also invest significantly in other education programmes, and want to maintain a balanced portfolio across bilateral and multilateral spending.

Haiti: Oxfam

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what discussions Officials of her Department have had with Oxfam on the allegations of sexual abuse by members of that organisation in Haiti.

Penny Mordaunt: DFID was not aware of the allegations made against Oxfam in 2011. We first became aware that sexual allegations might be involved when Oxfam contacted the department in January 2018 and only knew the full extent of those allegations on 5 February. I met with Oxfam on 12 February to discuss the allegations and their response. On 16 February, Oxfam replied to DFID’s initial request for assurances and met my initial demands. Following our discussions, Oxfam agreed to withdraw from bidding for any new UK Government funding, until DFID is satisfied that they can meet the high standards that we expect of our partners.

Haiti: Oxfam

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how her Department has responded to the misconduct by Oxfam staff in Haiti.

Penny Mordaunt: I refer the hon Member to my answers to PQ 129092 and PQ 129086 for actions taken in response to Oxfam.My Department has created a new unit to urgently review safeguarding across all parts of the aid sector to ensure everything is being done to protect people from harm, including sexual exploitation and abuse.DFID and the Charity Commission will hold a Safeguarding Summit on 5 March, where we will meet with UK international development charities, regulators and experts to confront safeguarding failures and agree practical measures we can take forward. We are planning a larger and more wide ranging safeguarding event to occur later in the year which will look across sectors and include international counterparts.

Oxfam: Sexual Offences

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what discussions her Department has had with aid agencies other than Oxfam on allegations of misconduct by members of those organisation's staff.

Penny Mordaunt: I have written 192 letters to UK charities which receive UK aid, insisting that they spell out the steps they are taking to ensure their safeguarding policies are fully in place and work properly. I have called on all organisations to safeguard everyone that they come into contact with, including beneficiaries, staff and volunteers, and that organisations must report every serious incident or allegation, no matter how damaging it is to their reputation. DFID has also written to more than 393 international charities which receive UK aid to set out the high standards we expect, and we will undertake a similar exercise with all multilaterals, suppliers and stakeholders.

Sahel: Tree Planting

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what funding her Department provides for the Great Green Wall across the Sahel.

Harriett Baldwin: DFID funds activities to address land degradation, including the Great Green Wall across the Sahel, through our support to the Global Environment Facility (GEF). Total UK support to the GEF between 2014 and 2018 was £210 million, with DFID providing £168 million and Defra providing £42 million of this amount. Over £4.8 million has been spent by the GEF on the Great Green Wall initiative, 9 percent or £432 thousand of this is funded by the UK contributions. The World Bank and the EU have also funded projects in line with the Great Green Wall, and the UK funds these multilateral organisations.

Sahel: Water

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what funding her Department is providing for the Trans African Pipeline; and with what countries her Department is co-operating on improvements to irrigation across the Sahel and contiguous areas.

Harriett Baldwin: DFID is monitoring the Trans Africa Pipeline initiative but has not provided any direct support. DFID has provided £56 million to build resilience and adaptation to climate extremes and disasters in the Sahel since 2013. This has included support to improving irrigation through providing solar water pumps for small scale irrigation, and wells and boreholes in Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and Chad.

Africa: Bubonic Plague

Kevin Foster: What steps her Department has taken in response to the recent outbreak of plague in Africa.

Harriett Baldwin: DFID supported the World Health Organisation to send 114 experts, mobilise 1.2 million doses of antibiotics and establish nine treatment centres to assist the Government of Madagascar, where the plague outbreak occurred. Three experts from the UK’s Public Health Rapid Support Team also provided vital support to contain the outbreak.

Developing Countries: Religious Freedom

Michelle Donelan: What proportion of her Department's aid spending is committed to tackling religious persecution.

Harriett Baldwin: DFID does not disaggregate specific information on aid spending committed to tackling religious persecution, however, we are firmly committed to protecting ethnic and religious minorities, and we raise the issue with partner countries. The UK promotes and protects the right to freedom of religion or belief internationally, regionally and bilaterally.

Developing Countries: HIV Infection

Mr Jim Cunningham: What steps her Department is taking to reduce the global prevalence of HIV and AIDS.

Alistair Burt: The UK is a world leader in efforts to end the AIDS epidemic, including through our major investment in the Global Fund. Our integrated approach builds on improvements in access to treatment, while seeking to reduce new infections, particularly among adolescent girls, women and other groups still left behind.

Yemen: Politics and Government

Gill Furniss: What steps her Department is taking to tackle the humanitarian crisis in Yemen.

Alistair Burt: The UK is the third-largest humanitarian donor to Yemen, with £205 million this financial year. This provides enough food for 3.4 million people for at least a month, nutrition support for 1.7 million people, and clean water and sanitation for an expected 1.2 million people. We play a leading role in lobbying all sides to find a peaceful solution to the conflict.

Developing Countries: Crops

Glyn Davies: What steps her Department is taking to promote food security in developing countries by increasing crop yields.

Harriett Baldwin: DFID continues to invest in the development of crops that are more productive, that are resistant to diseases and able to withstand drought and flooding; and to get these into widespread use by farmers. Over 10 million farmers in developing countries have benefited from these investments.

Yemen: Politics and Government

Paul Blomfield: What steps her Department is taking to tackle the humanitarian crisis in Yemen.

Alistair Burt: The UK is the third-largest humanitarian donor to Yemen, with £205 million this financial year. This provides enough food for 3.4 million people for at least a month, nutrition support for 1.7 million people, and clean water and sanitation for an expected 1.2 million people. We play a leading role in lobbying all sides to find a peaceful solution to the conflict.

Developing Countries: Disability

Eddie Hughes: What steps she is taking to support people with disabilities in developing countries.

Penny Mordaunt: Disability inclusion is a top priority for DFID. DFID programmes are tackling stigma and discrimination, and supporting people with disabilities to access services, opportunities and rights. In July, the UK will host a Global Disability Summit to increase action and investment, lock-in progress and share best practice.

Department for Education

Grammar Schools: Travel

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the Government’s policy is on offering disadvantaged pupils free travel for up to fifteen miles to attend a grammar school.

Nick Gibb: The Department is committed to supporting every child to fulfil their potential, regardless of their background. The Department is continuing to work with the education sector to consider how best to encourage more disadvantaged pupils to apply to selective schools. We are still considering the responses to the ‘Schools that Work for Everyone’ consultation, which set out our plans for providing more good school places. The Department will be announcing our plans in response to this consultation in due course.

Employment: Learning Disability

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 22 December 2017 to Question 120167, what employment-related statistics for students with learning difficulties the Government collects.

Mr Sam Gyimah: To observe transitions between education and employment, the Department for Education relies on data matching between its own administrative sources on educational activities and other data held by Her Majesties Revenue and Customs, the Department for Work and Pensions, and local authority data. Outputs from the matched data have been successful in showing the positive outcomes of learners who have recently completed education, without placing any additional burden on schools or other education providers. Outcomes for school and college students reaching the end of key stage 4 (KS4) (compulsory schooling) and key stage 5 (KS5) (16 to 18 study) are published in the publication ‘Destinations of KS4 and KS5 pupils’, which uses a concept of sustained destinations (to education, any employment or training) in its measures. Students are counted in the employment category only if they were not also in education in each of the six months considered. The publication includes outcomes at national and local authority level for those identified as having special educational needs (SEN) or disabilities in schools, and learners with a learning difficulty or disability (LLDD) in colleges. From 2016 young people with a SEN are grouped into those with an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan and those identified as requiring support and, at KS4, information on primary need type is also given. Information about destinations after KS5 is only available for students who completed level 3 (advanced) qualifications meaning many SEN or LLDD learners aged 16 to 18 are not currently in scope for these statistics. The publication is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/destinations-of-ks4-and-ks5-pupils-2016. Additionally, destinations of adult (19+) further education and all age apprenticeships are published. This publication presents sustained employment for all completers, regardless of education destination. Other definitions and reporting timelines are consistent with those used in ‘Destinations of KS4 and KS5 pupils’. Learners can be identified using the category ‘Learners with Learning Difficulties and/or Disabilities (LLDD)’. The publication is available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/further-education-outcome-based-success-measures-2014-to-2015. In addition to data collected by government, the Higher Education Statistics Agency collects and publishes information on the “Destinations of leavers from Higher Education”. This publication identifies employment outcomes of leavers from UK higher education institutions six months after graduating, and includes information for students identified as having a disability. The publication is available at: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/news/29-06-2017/sfr245-destinations-of-leavers.

Teachers

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of trends in the level of (a) pay, (b) pensions and (c) contractual terms and conditions of teachers employed (i) directly by schools and (ii) by supply agencies in the last five years.

Nick Gibb: The Department recently published an assessment of trends in the level of teachers’ pay in our evidence to the School Teachers' Review Body (STRB), available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/evidence-to-the-strb-2018-pay-award-for-school-staff.Statutory terms and conditions for teachers in maintained schools in England and Wales are set out in the School Teachers' Pay and Conditions Document (STPCD). Non-maintained schools are responsible for determining staff pay and conditions themselves.If a supply teacher is employed by a private agency, this is a private commercial arrangement between the school and the agency.The Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS) undertakes a comprehensive analysis every four years as part of the scheme valuation. The latest valuation is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/324305/TPS_2012_valuation_report_FINAL_9_June_2014.pdf. A further report will be published later this year. As teachers employed through supply agencies are not eligible to participate in the TPS, there is no data available.

Teachers: Job Satisfaction

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of trends in the level of teacher morale.

Nick Gibb: The Stevenson/Farmer Review states that public sector employers should support employee wellbeing. The Department is currently considering the evidence about teachers’ wellbeing and will consider how the Department can further support the sector. The Department is taking action in a number of areas that teachers tell us are key to reducing workplace stress, including eliminating unnecessary workload. The Department is working extensively with unions, teachers and Ofsted to challenge practices that create unnecessary workload. The Department is monitoring the impact of our actions to date, for example, by using snapshot surveys to establish whether schools are using the recommendations from the three independent review groups, to tackle workload issues. The Department has committed to running a large-scale survey on workload every two years to inform our policies. The first wave of the Teacher Workload Survey 2016 was published in February 2017.

Supply Teachers

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of trends in the level of profit of teacher supply agencies from (a) schools and (b) supply teachers in each of the last five years.

Nick Gibb: The Department does not hold information on the profit levels of teacher supply agencies. In 2015/16 academic year (academies) and 2015-16 financial year (maintained schools), schools spent a total of £835 million on agency supply staff. The Department is working with Crown Commercial Service to develop a commercial framework for agency supply teachers to support schools with ensuring value for money when using agency staff. The framework will bring transparency to agency margins and require agencies to adhere to standard levels of practice, including on the use of temp-to-perm fees. The framework is expected to be available for schools to use from September 2018.

Supply Teachers: Northern Ireland

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he has made an assessment of the effectiveness of Northern Ireland's national supply teacher service model; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Gibb: The Department engages with its counterparts in Northern Ireland to share best practice on topics of mutual interest and concern, including policy areas relating to teachers. The Department is aware of the Northern Ireland Substitute Teacher system and is following its progress with interest.

Schools: Cost Effectiveness

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 25 January 2018 to Question 123349, by whom the £500 per day to be paid to school efficiency advisors is to be  paid.

Nick Gibb: School Efficiency Advisers (SEA) are experts working with schools as part of our initial pilot to support school leaders to optimise their use of resources and to deliver educational outcomes and contribute to whole-school improvement. The daily rate for an SEA will be £400, and up to £100 in travel expenses. This will be paid by the Department. Payment will either go directly to the school for releasing their school business professional for deployment, in the case of SEAs who are self-employed – payment will go directly to the SEA.

Universities: Standards

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of proposals by some universities to adopt a GPA based grading system.

Mr Sam Gyimah: On 19 October 2017, on behalf of the Office for Students (OfS), the Department for Education consulted on a new Regulatory Framework for Higher Education in England. Part of that consultation sought views on whether there would be merit in the OfS exploring alternative methods of assessment, including Grade Point Average (GPA). The OfS will shortly publish its consultation response, together with a new Regulatory Framework for Higher Education in England.

Schools: Standards

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 127246 on schools: standards, he will list the (a) 26 schools that have remained unmatched to an academy sponsor for over a year, (b) four schools that have remained unmatched for two years and (c) nine schools that have remained unmatched for three years or more.

Nadhim Zahawi: The information requested is shown in the below tables. Table1: Number of local authority maintained schools issued with an academy order following an inadequate Ofsted judgement that have not been matched to a sponsor for 1 year or more.NumberURNSchool Name1103308Wilkes Green Infant School (NC)2130980Tracks3109252St Pius X RC Primary School4110236West Wycombe Combined School5105331Holy Trinity Primary School6107560St Joseph's RC Primary School, Todmorden7112354St Begh's Catholic Junior School8112382Netherhall School9117515Barclay School10119662St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School, Bacup11100743Sedgehill School12104648St Clare's Catholic Primary School13104657St Nicholas's Catholic Primary School14121426Moorside Infant School15104917St Teresa's Catholic Infant and Nursery School16104959Savio Salesian College17116451The Sholing Technology College18124445King Edward VI High School19125991Rogate CofE Primary School20106445Leigh CofE Primary School21106496Holy Family Catholic Primary School Platt Bridge22106524Westleigh High School23105092St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, BirkenheadThree schools now have a sponsor match, leaving 23 schools that have remained unmatched with a sponsor for one year or more.Table 2: Number of local authority maintained schools issued with an academy order following an inadequate Ofsted judgement that have not been matched to a sponsor for 2 years or more.NumberURNSchool Name1103808Ham Dingle Primary School2116432Cranbourne Business and Enterprise College3123049Rose Hill Primary School There are now three schools that have remained unmatched for two years, one school had its academy order revoked.Table 3: Number of local authority maintained schools issued with an academy order following an inadequate Ofsted judgement that have not been matched to a sponsor for 3 years or more.NumberURNSchool Name1103538Holy Trinity Catholic School2112938William Allitt School3135479All Saints Catholic High School4119745Fearns Community Sports College5108081Royds School6108628Norham High School7110002St Mary & All Saints Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School8104834De La Salle School9106144St Anne's Roman Catholic High School, Stockport In cases where schools in receipt of an academy order remain unmatched to an academy sponsor, the school will be supported in other ways. This can include a preferred sponsor providing interim support, support provided by the local authority or another sponsor, or a teaching school alliance.Data correct as of February 2018. Data on the future academies can be found in monthly, 'Open academies and academy projects in development' at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/open-academies-and-academy-projects-in-development.

Schools: Standards

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 20 February 2018 to Question 127236 on schools: standards, how many of the 74 maintained schools issued with an inadequate rating by Ofsted as at January 2018 have subsequently been re-inspected and are no longer rated inadequate.

Nick Gibb: This is a matter for Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Amanda Spielman. I have asked her to write to the hon. Member and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

Children: Day Care

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the cost to the public purse has been of the Government's 30 hours free childcare scheme to date.

Nadhim Zahawi: Provisional allocations to local authorities in respect of the additional 15 hours entitlement for three and four year olds of working parents for the financial year 2017 to 2018 are available in the 2017 to 2018 dedicated schools grant allocations table on GOV.UK at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-dsg-2017-to-2018. Final allocations for 2017 to 2018 will be made in the summer of 2018.

Apprentices: Pay

Catherine McKinnell: To ask Secretary of State for Education, what the average rate of hourly pay is for (a) women and (b) men in apprenticeships.

Anne Milton: The 2016 Apprenticeship Pay Survey estimates that the average (median) hourly pay for level 2 and 3 apprentices across England is £6.79 for females and £6.60 for males. Further details on apprenticeship pay can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/630082/apprenticeship-pay-survey-2016-report-england.pdf.

Young People: Unemployment

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what percentage of former students in (a) Ashfield, (b) Nottinghamshire and (c) England were not in education, employment, or training 12 months after leaving school.

Anne Milton: Data on whether students were not in education, employment, or training 12 months after leaving school is not held centrally. The department publishes statistics on destinations of students in the year after they finish key stage 4 or 16-18 study. Destination measures show the percentage of students with sustained participation in education or employment over six months following the end of their phase of study.The table attached shows the percentage of students who did not sustain their employment or education destination throughout the six-month period in (a) Ashfield local authority district, (b) Nottinghamshire and (c) England after completing key stage 4 16-18 study (having studied A levels or other advanced level qualifications).Information on pupil destinations is published annually on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-destinations.The department also publishes an estimate of the number and proportion of young people not in education, employment or training (NEET) in each local authority based on information submitted by local authorities about young people’s participation in education or training in their area. They are an average for November to January each year. The information can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/neet-data-by-local-authority-2012-16-to-18-year-olds-not-in-education-employment-or-training.



Students with no sustained education or employment
(Word Document, 22.98 KB)

Schools: Ashfield

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many schools and colleges in Ashfield constituency meet (a) any and (b) all of the eight Gatsby career advice benchmarks.

Anne Milton: The information requested is not held centrally.The Careers & Enterprise Company’s ‘State of the Nation’ report highlighted the results of over 500 schools that self-evaluated their careers provision against the Gatsby Benchmarks. Around half of these schools were achieving at least two of the eight benchmarks, although a fifth of schools were not achieving any of the benchmarks. The report is available to view here: wwwcareersandenterprise.co.uk/news/state-nation-report-reveals-route-success-schools.The careers strategy and our updated statutory guidance for schools both promote Compass, a free online tool (developed by The Gatsby Charitable Foundation and The Careers & Enterprise Company) for schools to evaluate and monitor improvements in their careers provision against the benchmarks. More information about Compass is available here: https://www.careersandenterprise.co.uk/schools-colleges/about-compass.A good way to highlight the importance of Gatsby Benchmarks is for individual MPs to contact the schools in their constituency.

Ministry of Justice

Prisons: Education

Ellie Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 11 September 2017 to Question 7023 on Prisons: Education, whether as part of the work to introduce a core common curriculum across the prison estate consideration will be given to including a module on discrimination, equality and hate crime.

Ellie Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 11 September 2017 to Question 7023, on Prisons: Education, whether, as part of work to introduce a core common curriculum across the prison estate, the Government will issue guidance to prison governors on assessing the educational needs of prisoners; and whether that guidance will refer to discussion of hate crime or social educational needs.

Rory Stewart: It will be for empowered governors to determine whether their prison’s curriculum covers modules on discrimination, equality and hate crime. We are putting in place a range of activity to support prison governors as they take on full responsibility for education provision in their establishments. Last October, the Prisoner Learning Alliance published guidance for prison governors (Greenhouses, not Warehouses: Commissioning education to plant seeds of hope and opportunity). My officials were involved in production of the material, building on our positive relationship, and my Ministerial predecessor was pleased to write a foreword. The published material includes guidance on identifying needs and priorities, including a prompt to consider the challenges in the prison that education could help to solve. We recently published our invitation to tender to procure successor prison education contracts. This will enable governors to begin the process of choosing who will deliver education in their prison once the current education contracts expire. Once in place, the new education delivery arrangements will mean governors own their education budget, design the curriculum, determine how education is organised and arranged, and decide who delivers it.

Prisoners' Release

Ellie Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on prison leavers' ability to obtain housing and employment of having a criminal record.

Rory Stewart: Having a safe and suitable home gives people with an offending history a stable platform from which to access health services, hold down a job and reduce the likelihood of them reoffending. We are working together with Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to deliver a joint strategy to improve access to housing in England for those being released from prison. Concurrently, we are working with the Welsh Government to improve housing outcomes in Wales for those released from prison.Supporting offenders into meaningful employment is a vital part of the Government’s approach to tackling reoffending. Offenders who found P45 employment in the twelve months after release from prison had one-year re-offending rates that were 6-9 percentage points lower than similar offenders who did not find employment. The New Futures Network will support empowered governors to broker relationships between prisons and employers more effectively. These, plus initiatives to incentivise employers to work with ex-offenders, will all help ensure offenders have the best chance of securing employment immediately on release.

Small Claims

Mr Paul Sweeney: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what provisions are made available for covering the costs of raising a claim at a British court where the person raising the claim is a UK citizen living on nil income and not in receipt of benefits.

Lucy Frazer: Assistance with paying Courts and Tribunals fees is available through Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals’ Services Help with Fees scheme. Legal aid is provided for claimants in cases which fall within scope, subject to means and merits tests

European Court Of Human Rights: Legal Costs

Mr Paul Sweeney: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether there is provision for covering the costs of raising a claim at the European Court of Human Rights from the public purse for a person who is a British subject living on a nil income and not in receipt of benefits.

Dr Phillip Lee: There is no fee for applying to the ECtHR. In England and Wales, legal aid is not available for proceedings before the ECtHR. Legal help may be used to advise a client of their position under England and Wales law and of the options available but may not be used to make an application to ECtHR or for legal aid from that court. The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) administers its own legal aid scheme which may be granted where the Court is satisfied that it is necessary for the proper conduct of the case before the Court; and the applicant has insufficient means to meet all or part of the costs, as set out in rules 100-105 of the Court’s Rules.

Immigration: Appeals

Mr Paul Sweeney: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average time taken was for processing immigration appeals in 2016-2017.

Mr Paul Sweeney: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average time taken was for processing immigration appeals during 2015-2016.

Lucy Frazer: The average time taken to clear a case in the First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) in 2016-2017 was 46 weeks. The average time taken to clear a case in 2015-2016 was 46 weeks. Published average clearance times are not routinely broken down by appeal type and could not be provided in the time available.

Sexual Harassment

Wera Hobhouse: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice , what support the Government is offering to women who have been the victims of up-skirting.

Dr Phillip Lee: The Ministry of Justice has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Sexual Harassment

Wera Hobhouse: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he plans to bring forward legislative proposals to criminalise up-skirting under the Sexual Offences Act 2003.

Lucy Frazer: I am encouraged to see that up-skirting has been successfully prosecuted on a number of occasions under the offence of outraging public decency. My officials are reviewing the various laws in this area to check and ensure we have the appropriate remedies for these offences.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Public Houses

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 20 December 2017 to Question 120655, on public houses, whether his Department plans to collect that information; and if he will make a statement.

Jake Berry: As Community Pubs Minister, my focus is on helping communities to get the most from their pub as they see fit, whether it be through acquiring and running their local pub themselves or using it to deliver new community-focussed services such as a shop, post office or library. This includes over 100 pubs which have or will receive direct Government support.

Social Rented Houinsg: Construction

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to support local authorities in building more social housing.

Dominic Raab: In October 2017, we announced plans to set a longer term rent deal for local authorities, which will provide a stable financial environment for them to support the delivery of new homes. This gives local authorities the security and certainty they need to plan investment, and provides greater confidence about their future rental income to underpin their future house building plans.At Autumn Budget 2017 the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced that we will raise the Housing Revenue Account borrowing cap by a total of up to £1 billion in areas of high affordability pressure for local authorities that are ready to start building new homes. Local authorities will be able to bid for increases in their caps from 2019/20, up to a total of £1 billion by the end of 2021/22.Local authorities, as well as housing associations, will also be able to bid for funding from the £9 billion Affordable Homes Programme to deliver more affordable homes, including at a social rent. Funding for social rent will be targeted at areas with acute affordability pressures.

Housing: Construction

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many homes have been granted planning permission but are still waiting to be built in each local authority area.

Dominic Raab: The Department does not hold the requested information.

Domestic Visits: North of England

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many visits Ministers of his Department have engaged in relating to the Northern Powerhouse in (a) Hull, (b) Manchester, (c) Leeds, (d) Liverpool and (e) Newcastle since June 2017; and what was discussed during those visits.

Jake Berry: Despite their often challenging parliamentary timetables—and thus the very real need to be in close proximity to the Palace of Westminster for the majority of the week and the majority of the year—Ministers in the Ministry of Housing, Communities, and Local Government have undertaken over 50 visits across the Northern Powerhouse, including to the cities of Hull, Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool, and Newcastle, since June 2017.This Ministerial team—including the Minister for the Northern Powerhouse, Jake Berry MP—have been out across the North visiting local businesses, civic leaders, and community groups to discuss local priorities and how we can work collectively to deliver stronger economic growth across the whole of the Northern Powerhouse.For example, in Liverpool City Region—in the first official Northern Powerhouse Partners event since the General Election—we met with the Mayor to discuss how to maximise the Government’s £330 million Local Growth Fund investment in the city region and met with key local businesses to discuss how they can contribute to the Northern Powerhouse project.In Newcastle we discussed how the recent Autumn Budget saw the Government announce a ‘minded-to’ Devolution Deal with the North of Tyne and a funding boost of up to £1.8 billion for the Northern Powerhouse, including £436 million to improve transport connections within northern city regions through the Transforming Cities Fund.In Leeds City Region, we discussed how the Government is investing a record £13 billion in transport across the North and how ambitious Growth Strategies can maximise the positive economic impacts of HS2 and other major improvements. We also discussed how Government’s half-a-billion-pound investment in the city region’s local economy, through the Local Growth Fund, is improving transport infrastructure, boosting skills levels, and strengthening business growth.In Greater Manchester, we talked to stakeholders about how the Government’s bold devolution agenda is giving back power to local areas, driving forward local growth and encouraging stronger global voices for areas across the Northern Powerhouse. We also discussed the recent report which highlighted how the new direct flights between Manchester Airport and China have helped to boost exports by 265 per cent to almost £200 million a month.And in Hull, we visited the largest Enterprise Zone in the country and discussed how the £141.5 million Government investment in the area is transforming the local economy and providing highly-skilled job opportunities for Hull’s young people. We also discussed how the £400 million Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund is providing finance to SMEs in the area and providing them with the tools they need to expand their operations globally.

Housing: Construction

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment he has made of the accuracy of the Government's housebuilding statistics.

Dominic Raab: The Department provides a detailed assessment of the data quality and sources in every quarterly house-building statistical release.As outlined in the answer to Question UIN 126930 on 14 February 2018, the Department is taking forward work to improve coverage of the release.

Affordable Housing: North Cornwall

Scott Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many affordable housing units have been completed in North Cornwall in each year since 2010.

Dominic Raab: Figures for additional affordable housing units supplied are published in live table 1008C https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-affordable-housing-supplyFigures are published at local authority level, since 2009-10 figures are only available at Cornwall unitary authority level.

Right to Buy Scheme: Birmingham Northfield

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will list the housing associations within Birmingham Northfield constituency that are eligible for the regional pilot of the Right to Buy for housing association tenants.

Dominic Raab: The Voluntary Right to Buy Midlands pilot will give thousands more housing association tenants the opportunity to enjoy the benefits of home ownership. The Government is currently engaging with the National Housing Federation and housing associations in the Midlands, and more details on the pilot will be announced in due course.

Owner Occupation

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what percentage of families with children own their own home in (a) Ashfield, (b) Nottinghamshire and (c) England.

Dominic Raab: The Department collects and publishes data on the proportion of households with dependent children by tenure in England, using the English Housing Survey. See AT1.5 here:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/676433/2016-17_Section_1_Households_Annex_Tables.xlsxThe Department does not collect data for Ashfield or Nottinghamshire.

Supported Housing

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 18 January 2018 to Question 122777, what evidence his Department plans to draw on to calculate its projections of future need for short-term supported housing.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: The Government set out its approach to projecting future need for short-term supported housing in the policy statement published on 31 October 2018 (https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/655990/Funding_supported_housing_-_policy_statement_and_consultation.pdf).In particular, see paragraph 91.

Ministry of Defence

Ministry of Defence: Welsh Language

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what translation arrangements his Department has put in place to enable efficient and accurate handling of Welsh language correspondence from (a) MPs and (b) the general public.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Ministry of Defence's (MOD) commitment to dealing with written Welsh language correspondence is set out in its Welsh Language Scheme - paragraphs 4.1 to 4.8 inclusive. People are welcome to correspond with the MOD in English or in Welsh. Correspondence received in Welsh will receive a written reply in Welsh (where one is required) within twenty working days of receipt.The MOD Welsh Language Scheme is available on the gov.uk website at:www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-defence/ about/Welsh-language-scheme.MOD translation work is carried out under an arrangement with HM Courts and Tribunals Service.

Military Aircraft

Martin Docherty-Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many instances there have been of pilot-reported hypoxia symptoms in the (a) F35B Joint Strike Fighter, (b) Typhoon, (c) Tornado and (d) T-6 trainer aircraft in each of the last five years.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: For each year between 2013 and 2016, inclusive, the number of instances of hypoxia reported by RAF pilots was less than five. These were reported for Tornado and Typhoon aircraft. This information cannot be published in accordance with the Data Protection Act. There were no instances recorded for 2017.

Ministry of Defence: Fairtrade Initiative

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion of his Department's spend on day-to-day goods comprised fair trade products in each of the last eight years.

Guto Bebb: The proportion of the Ministry of Defence's spend on day-to-day goods comprised of fair trade products is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Ministry of Defence: Zero Hours Contracts

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) full-time staff, (b) part-time staff, (c) temporary staff and (d) any other staff were employed directly by his Department on zero-hours contracts in each of the last eight years.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Ministry of Defence does not employ staff on zero hours contracts.

Ministry of Defence: Flexible Working

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many and what percentage of employees in his Department worked (a) in departmental accommodation, (b) from home and (c) at any other location in the most recent 12-month period for which data is available.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Department for Work and Pensions

Social Security Benefits: Disability

Kate Hollern: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that (a)  personal independence payments and (b) employment support allowance assessments take into account expert advice, including medical advice.

Sarah Newton: Claimants are advised to submit any evidence that they have. If the Department or its assessment providers require further evidence, including any supporting medical evidence, they will request it directly from the clinician or other professionals involved in the claimant’s care. All Health Professionals are subject to on-going audit by our assessment providers to ensure that they deliver high quality assessments, including the appropriate use of further evidence. The Department also undertakes independent audit to ensure that the advice provided to the Department’s decision makers is of suitable quality, fully explained and justified.

Department for Work and Pensions: Correspondence

Mr Paul Sweeney: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what processes there are in her Department to monitor how often correspondence or evidence submitted to it by claimants, their representatives or other parties is reported as mislaid or lost.

Kit Malthouse: Over 70% of all documents that are received by the Department and relate to a benefit claim are scanned on receipt.The Reconciliation Analysis Process (RAP) is a process that allows a user to check whether all items of scanned post have been delivered by the end to end mail opening and scanning solution to the appropriate endpoint. As part of the RAP, there is a tool that takes in all the files produced by each of the components in the chain and performs analysis to produce output reports to highlight any problem areas. The reconciliation is carried out on a daily basis.Mail for benefits that is not scanned is processed according to the reports instructions and forwarded by courier. Tracking of individual items is only available for post sent recorded or special delivery.

Employment Schemes: Young People

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans she has to publish her Department's review of the Youth Obligation.

Alok Sharma: I refer the Honourable Member to the answer I provided to Question 129138 on 27 Febuary 2018.

Personal Independence Payment: Coventry South

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many claimants in Coventry South constituency with evidence of psychological distress have been refused the motability component of the personal independence payment in each year since its introduction.

Sarah Newton: I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave on 26 February 2018 to Question UIN 128773.

Carillion: Insolvency

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment her Department has made of the consequences of the deficit in the Carillion pension scheme for pension holders; and if she will make a statement.

Guy Opperman: Carillion is the sponsoring employer for 13 separate defined benefit schemes which it acquired as it expanded. Most, or all of the schemes, will enter a Pension Protection Fund (PPF) assessment period during which the PPF will be testing to see if a scheme can secure at least PPF level benefits for its members without further support. If it can, a scheme will buy members’ annuities to pay for their pensions. If not, a scheme will transfer into the PPF with a consequential effect on members’ benefits; In general, those over scheme pension age at the date of insolvency get compensation equal to 100 per cent of their pension initially, while members below that age at the date of insolvency get compensation equal to 90 per cent of their accrued pension, subject to an overall cap.

Unemployment: Wolverhampton North East

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the change in the level of unemployment in Wolverhampton North East constituency in the last 12 months; and what assessment she made of the reasons for the number of people unemployed in that constituency being higher than the national average.

Alok Sharma: Since the 2010 election, the Office for National Statistics’ (ONS) Labour Force Survey data shows that the level and rate of unemployment has fallen in every region and country of the UK.Estimates of the unemployment rate (age 16+) for Parliamentary Constituency Areas (PCA), and the UK as a whole, are available based upon the ONS’ Annual Population Survey data. However, the PCA unemployment rate estimates are based on small sample of survey respondents and are therefore subject to a high degree of statistical uncertainty.The ONS estimate that the unemployment rate in Wolverhampton North East for October 2015 to September 2016 was 9.7%. For the latest period (October 2016 to September 2017) the ONS estimate the unemployment rate was 9.0%. This compares to the period October 2009 to September 2010 when the estimate was an unemployment rate of 16.9%.Estimates of unemployment differ in different areas of the country due to the effects of sample variability; the demographics of the local area and local labour market conditions.

Personal Independence Payment: Appeals

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the process will be for upholding the High Court judgment on Personal Independence Payments.

Sarah Newton: I refer the Hon. Member to the statement made by myself, Official Report, 30 January 2018, Column 703 - 704.

Home Office

UK Border Agency

Sir Edward Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Border Office staff have been employed in each of the last five years; and what the (a) staffing cost and (b) total cost of the Border Agency has been in each of those years.

Caroline Nokes: I refer the Hon. Member to the answer given to the Hon. Member for Westmorland and Lonsdale on the 7th February 2017, UIN 60627.

Home Office: Child Care Vouchers

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many employees of her Department make use of the childcare voucher scheme.

Victoria Atkins: Approximately 1300 Home Office employees are currently using the childcare voucher scheme, based on the January 2018 orders, although usage varies over time and will be higher or lower during different months of the year.

Immigration

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) immigration (b) refugee and (c) citizenship cases are waiting to be processed by her Department.

Caroline Nokes: The information as requested is not included in statistics published by the Home Office.The Government is committed to publishing comprehensive statistics on the performance of the immigration system. On 22 February, the Government published its latest collection of migration transparency data to the end of 2017. This can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/migration-transparency-data

Immigration

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of (a) immigration, (b) refugee and (c) citizenship cases have taken more than (i) 6 months, (ii) 12 months and (iii) 24 months to resolve in each of the last five years.

Caroline Nokes: The Government is committed to publishing comprehensive statistics on the performance of the immigration system. On 22 February, the Government published its latest collection of migration transparency data to the end of 2017. This can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/migration-transparency-data

Immigration

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications for leave to remain had been open for more than (a) six months, (b) 12 months and (c) 24 months on 21 February 2018.

Caroline Nokes: The published statistics on leave to remain applications that have been processed within service standard can be found in the migration transparency data release.https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/in-country-migration-data-february-2018 at:InC_02: Percentage of In-Country visa applications, for each Route, processed within Service Standards.

Immigration

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the capacity of UK Visas and Immigration to resolve cases that relate to the European Convention on Human Rights.

Caroline Nokes: UK Visas and Immigration put annual capacity plans in place, which are intended to ensure we have the necessary resources to handle expected demand.Performance and staffing data is published in the transparency data found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/migration-transparency-dataPublished staffing data more specific to UK Visas and Immigration and Immigration Enforcement is also available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/border-and-immigration-cross-cutting-data-february-2018

Domestic Violence

Jess Phillips: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to make provisions in the Domestic Violence and Abuse Bill to (a) provide for the use of tagging technologies to assist police and other agencies to monitor and enforce separation orders and (b) help protect and increase the peace of mind of victims and survivors.

Jess Phillips: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to Ending Violence against Women and Girls Strategy 2016 – 2020, published by her Department in March 2016, what progress her Department has made on plans to (a) trial GPS proximity tracking and (b) harness new technologies to tackle violence against women and girls.

Caroline Nokes: The Government is committed to ensuring that survivors of domestic abuse receive the help and support they need. We will shortly be launching a consultation on a Domestic Abuse Bill which will seek views on how we can better protect victims of domestic abuse and take robust action against perpetrators.The Government’s Ending Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Strategy included the commitment to trial new GPS proximity tracking technology to manage and disrupt persistent offenders and offer greater protections to victims. Funding has been provided though the Police Innovation Fund to Northumbria Police to trial the use of GPS tagging in domestic abuse cases, and through the Tampon Tax Fund we have provided £250,000 to Refuge for a Technological Empowerment Programme for women who have experienced gender based violence.

Immigration

Alison Thewliss: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many visa applications fell for refusal under Paragraph 332(5) of the Immigration Rules in (a) 2014-15, (b) 2015-16 and (c) 2016-17.

Caroline Nokes: The information you have requested is not included in statistics published by the Home Office.Information on the total number of visa refusals can be found here:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-statistics-october-to-december-2017/list-of-tables#visas

Immigration Controls: France

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has conducted an impact assessment of the Treaty between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of the French Republic Concerning the Reinforcement of Cooperation for the Coordinated Management of their Shared Border, Recognising the Importance of Cooperation at the Juxtaposed Controls after 29 March 2019.

Caroline Nokes: The Treaty between the UK and France signed at Sandhurst in January demonstrates our joint long term commitment to the operation of juxtaposed controls, and to taking a joint approach to tackling the challenges created by illegal migration.As part of this new Treaty the UK and France agreed a new ‘whole of route’ joint package of cooperation on migration. This includes measures on further strengthening our shared border, combating organised immigration crime and working together to reduce the number of illegal migrants at the northern French ports. The government set out more detail on the Sandhurst Treaty and our work with France in this area in the Written Ministerial Statement of 19 January 2018.Under the agreement, joint governance structures will ensure that we are maximising the wider benefit to be gained from the UK and France working together across the migration agenda.

Department of Health and Social Care

Mental Health Services: Digital Technology

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress his Department is making in harnessing digital technologies to deliver mental health services.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Government is committed to expanding access to mental health digital services to enable more people to receive effective care and provide greater accessibility and choice. There has been a lot of progress made to date in harnessing digital technologies such as the establishment of seven mental health global digital exemplars which are trusts leading the way in improving digital inclusion and uptake of digital therapies and tools. The National Health Service app library is now hosting six digital tools aimed at improving mental health support and early intervention for children and young people. There is also ongoing work to redesign the NHS.uk website to improve information and access to digital support for mental health. Development is also underway for a specialist mental health assessment module for NHS111 which will provide more appropriate support and signposting. For people in need of mental health crisis care who have been detained under the Mental Health Act, new technology is being trialled to enable health and social care professionals, community street triage teams and the police to access appropriate Health Based Places of Safety. NHS England is working with the National Institute for Health and Care and Excellence in developing a digitally enabled therapy assessment programme which will assess up to 14 digital therapy products for use in Improving Access to Psychological Therapies services by 2020. Three of these 14 products have been assessed for inclusion in this programme so far.

Medical Equipment

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that hospitals use new technologies to improve patient care.

Jackie Doyle-Price: As set out in the response to the Accelerated Access Review, published last year, a total of £6 million has been announced to help the National Health Service adopt and integrate new technologies into everyday practice, through the Pathway Transformation Fund. The Pathway Transformation Fund will support NHS organisations to overcome these initial barriers to uptake, allowing the NHS to implement new innovative products where it otherwise would have struggled to do so.We are also introducing a new Accelerated Access Pathway, to streamline regulatory and market access decisions, getting breakthrough products that we believe will be truly transformative to patients more quickly. All products including medical technologies, devices and diagnostics will be eligible for selection.

Mental Health Services: Children and Young People

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to (a) improve the prevention of mental illness and (b) provide mental health support for children and young people.

Jackie Doyle-Price: We acknowledge that prevention is key to transforming children and young people’s mental health and are taking a number of actions to prevent problems occurring. This includes investment of £3 million to develop the MindEd e-portal, which provides free training on children and young people’s mental health to all professionals who work with children, and over the course of 2016/17-2020/21, providing just over £12 million to fund Time to Change. Time To Change aims to raise awareness of mental health illness and address the fear of stigma that can stop young people and their families from seeking the help that they need. We are also delivering mental health awareness training in every school in England, and given that maternal mental health has a significant impact on the child’s mental health, we are investing £365 million up until 2020/21 to improve access to specialist perinatal mental health services. In order to transform children and young people’s mental health services, we are making an additional £1.4 billion available from 2015/16 to 2019/20, to ensure access to specialist mental health services for 70,000 additional children and young people each year by 2020/21. This additional money provides funding for clinical commissioning groups and various national programmes, including improving crisis support, expanding the workforce and tackling stigma. Our recent Green Paper, which is supported by over £300 million of additional funding, aims to improve provision of support in schools, bolster links between schools and National Health Service specialist services and improve access through piloting a four week waiting time.

Colorectal Cancer: Screening

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the timetable is for the publication of the decision on the preferred supplier for the faecal immunochemical test kit tender award within the bowel cancer screening programme.

Steve Brine: Public Health England has, on behalf of the five bowel cancer screening hubs in England, led on the procurement of the kit to support the implementation of the faecal immunochemical test in the bowel cancer screening programme in England. Work is now progressing on the process to complete the procurement requirements in order to allow delivery of the kit and other aspects of the service related to the kit. The supplier will be announced once agreement is in place following the completion of the procurement process in spring 2018.

Mental Health Services: Children and Young People

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to paragraph 5, of his Department's paper, Transforming Children and Young People’s Mental Health Provision: a Green Paper, how his Department will ensure that experts and stakeholders are involved in the development and evaluation of different models of delivering Mental Health Support Teams.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Development of the Green Paper included extensive engagement with experts and many stakeholders through webinars, meetings and a day long focus group with children and young people. We are also using the public online consultation to gather views on how best to implement the proposals, what selection criteria to use for the trailblazer areas which will test roll-out of the proposals and which examples of best practice we should draw on for implementing the Mental Health Support Teams. During the consultation period, we are also working directly with stakeholders and delivery partners to inform the trailblazer programme and decisions on which delivery models we should test. We will continue to engage experts and stakeholders as we develop the detail around the teams and how they will be rolled-out. We have held various face to face events to ensure that we capture the views of those with relevant experience in this field and those who we hope will benefit from the proposals. This includes four stakeholder roundtables across the country, a parliamentarians’ roundtable and a series of focus groups with children and young people, parents/carers and professionals.

Mental Health Services: Children and Young People

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what mental health interventions will be provided by the Mental Health Support Teams proposed in Transforming children and young people’s mental health provision: a green paper; whether counselling will be a primary such intervention; and if he will make a statement.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Mental Health Support Teams will be trained to deliver evidence-based interventions for children and young people with mild/moderate needs. The teams will work collaboratively with senior designated leads in schools and colleges and other professionals such as educational psychologists, school nurses, counsellors and social workers to assess children and refer them on for further treatment if necessary. Over the course of the consultation period we are seeking views on the exact role of the teams. Many schools recognise the important role that making school-based counselling services available in school settings can play and we know from our mental health in schools survey that around 61% of schools offer counselling. The intention of the new Mental Health Support Teams, is to provide the additional, trained health provision that the evidence suggests is needed, complementing existing mental health provision in schools in a way that secures better joint working and understanding between health services and education. We will work with clinical and other experts to design the curriculum for training staff in the mental health support teams, including the interventions that they will be trained to provide, following the consultation. We will test how the teams work through trailblazers, beginning in 2019.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment has been made of the potential merits of removing cognitive behavioural therapy and graded exercise therapy as treatments for ME from the current NICE guidelines.

Steve Brine: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is an independent body and develops its guidance based on a thorough assessment of the available evidence and in consultation with stakeholders. The Department is a stakeholder in the development of NICE’s guidance, but has no direct influence over its recommendations. Its revised guidance on the diagnosis and management of chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis is due for publication in October 2020. Registered stakeholders are encouraged to respond to consultations. However, the guideline is also clear that there is no one form of treatment to suit every patient. Treatment approaches will not be appropriate for all patients and the needs and preferences of patients should be taken into account.

Pancreatic Cancer: Research

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that the priorities for research set out in NICE's Guidelines for Pancreatic Cancer in adults: diagnosis and management in England, published in February 2018, are taken forward by the National Institute for Health Research.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence research recommendations and key priorities are routinely considered by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) alongside other high priority topics of relevance to patients and the public. In the case of the recent pancreatic cancer guideline, the NIHR is currently in the process of considering the research recommendations and identifying those which might be appropriate for the NIHR research programmes.

Clinical Commissioning Groups: Per Capita Costs

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he is taking steps to ensure a more equivalent level of clinical commissioning group core services per capita funding allocation; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Barclay: Funding differs between areas based on their local health need – for example, based on the proportions of their populations being in older age groups. The allocation of funding to clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) is based on an assessment of their relative health needs, based on a formula. The formula is based on independent academic research and includes the factors statistically associated with higher or lower need per head for NHS services. This formula produces a target allocation, or 'fair share' for each area, based on a complex assessment of factors such as demography, morbidity and the unavoidable cost of providing services in different areas. The ‘pace of change’ policy aims to move CCGs closer towards their target allocations over time, while delivering the mandated requirement to not destabilise health economies. Since 2016/17 no CCG is more than 5% below their target allocation. Beyond this, individual growth rates and pace of alignment with target allocations will reflect a number of factors, including the precise mix of historic expenditure in relation to the individual commissioning stream targets and minimum growth protections.

General Practitioners

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the process is by which the GP access allocation for clinical commissioning groups is determined.

Steve Brine: The weighted population of each clinical commissioning group (CCG) was used to determine the general practitioner (GP) access allocation. The NHS England Technical Guide to Allocation Formulae and Pace of Change, for 2016-17 to 2020-21 revenue allocations to CCGs and commissioning areas (published April 2016) was used to forecast CCG allocations until 2020/21. This document explains the rationale behind the projection and the Office for National Statistics forecast to calculate the registered and weighted populations for five years. There were two exceptions: - London, given some of the unique characteristics of London, the allocation (whilst still weighted) for London schemes was made available for deployment across the whole of the geographical area to support improvements; and - Manchester, with its devolved status secured a top slice of the GP access allocation budget for each financial year in the current settlement review period.

Colorectal Cancer: Screening

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that funding is appropriately allocated to test all people with bowel cancer for molecular features of Lynch syndrome in accordance with NICE guidance, DG27, published in February 2017.

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which body is responsible for the governance and funding of testing for molecular features of Lynch syndrome in all people diagnosed with bowel cancer in accordance with NICE guidance, DG27, published in February 2017; and if he will make a statement.

Steve Brine: The commissioning of services for people diagnosed with Lynch Syndrome, including surveillance, generally sits with clinical commissioning groups (CCGs). CCGs are best placed to commission services to meet the needs of local populations, taking into account the best available evidence. Testing for Lynch syndrome in people with colorectal cancer is targeted using criteria based on family history and age of cancer onset to determine people at higher risk. New National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) diagnostic guidance recommends extending this offer to all people with colorectal cancer when they are first diagnosed. Offering tests to all people with colorectal cancer will need to be considered by NHS England as part of its service development process. Each year, a number of new drugs, medical devices, tests and treatments in specialised services are put forward to NHS England. The promising proposals are considered by experts in the field, including doctors, public health experts and lay people. These groups, established by NHS England, are known as Clinical Reference Groups (CRGs). The CRGs make detailed assessments of the new treatments, tests and devices through Policy Working Groups and make recommendations on their potential adoption in the NHS. The Medical Genetics CRG will consider the NICE diagnostic guidance and have been asked to submit a Preliminary Policy Proposal and to identify a Clinical Lead to oversee the development of the proposal.

Nurses: Training

Richard Graham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many students have (a) applied to and (b) been accepted into nursing degree courses in Gloucester in each of the last five years.

Stephen Barclay: The Department is not responsible for collecting data on the number of applications to study nursing degree courses. The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service publishes data on the number of applications to full-time undergraduate courses. Further information is available at: https://www.ucas.com/corporate/data-and-analysis/ucas-undergraduate-releases/2017-cycle-applicant-figures-june-deadline-0 In order to meet the growing need to increase the future supply of registered nurses, additional clinical placement funding was announced by the Department in August and October 2017. This will enable around 5,000 more nursing students to enter training each year from September 2018; an historic 25% increase. Broadening routes into nursing is a priority for the Department. That is why we have developed the new nursing associate role and the Nurse Degree Apprenticeship which will open up routes into the registered nursing profession for thousands of people from all backgrounds and allow employers to grow their own workforce.

Sapropterin

Nick Thomas-Symonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his Department's policy is on the administration of Kuvan to women with Phenylketonuria throughout their pregnancy.

Steve Brine: NHS England has a published policy on access to “Kuvan” (drug name Sapropterin) for phenylketonuria during pregnancy. Further information is available at: https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/e12-p-a.pdf

NHS: ICT

Eddie Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential benefits of using blockchain for the NHS; and if he will make a statement.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Department is currently assessing the potential benefits of Blockchain along with a number of other innovative, emerging technologies. Blockchain has the potential to enable patients to have greater control over who can access their records through the use of encrypted data and a permanent ledger in which all transactions are recorded. It also has possible applications in contracting. Globally the use of Blockchain in health and care is in a very early stage of development and there is no firm evidence as yet of the exact benefits it might offer.

General Practitioners: Migrant Workers

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many medical practitioners have been refused a Tier 2 (General) Certificate of Sponsorship since November 2017 due to the annual cap of 20,700; and what assessment he has made of the effect of those refusals on (a) levels of patient facing activity and (b) locum costs.

Stephen Barclay: The Department does not hold information on the number of medical practitioners refused a Tier 2 (General) Certificate of Sponsorship centrally. The Department continues to monitor and analyse overall staffing levels across the National Health Service and adult social care, in addition to trust spending on agency staff. We work across Government to ensure there will continue to be sufficient staff to deliver safe, high quality, efficient services on which patients rely.

Carers

Judith Cummins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when the Government plans to publish its (a) action plan for carers and (b) national carers strategy.

Judith Cummins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the economic contribution of unpaid carers to the UK economy.

Caroline Dinenage: Ahead of the forthcoming social care Green Paper on care and support for older people publication, the Department will shortly be publishing its action plan on carers, setting out a cross-Government programme of targeted work to support carers over the next two years. The action plan will put a focus on delivery ahead of the Green Paper and give visibility to the work that is being done or is planned within Government. The Department wants to make sure that the strategic issues facing carers are at the heart of proposals on social care, and will therefore be considering these questions as part of the Green Paper rather than through a separate national carers strategy. In terms of the economic contribution of unpaid carers to the United Kingdom economy, no substantive assessment has been made. Estimates of the value of informal care (or unpaid carers) are frequently based on the cost of providing formal social care services as a direct substitute for informal care, and range widely.

Accident and Emergency Departments: Standards

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to reduce accident and emergency waiting times.

Stephen Barclay: Urgent and Emergency Care (UEC) is one of the National Health Service’s main national service improvement priorities set out in the Next Steps on the NHS Five Year Forward View, with a focus on improving national accident and emergency (A&E) performance. A number of approaches have, and are being introduced to reduce the pressure on A&E departments, reduce waiting times and improve patient flow. As at December 2017, 98.5% (134 out of 136) Type 1 A&Es had front-door clinical streaming in place, diverting people with more minor illnesses to more appropriate services better suited to their needs, supported by additional funding of £100 million, as announced by the Chancellor in the spring budget 2017. The transformation of NHS 111 services as part of the UEC programme is also helping to reduce pressure on A&E services. In 2017 NHS 111 answered more than 14 million calls, an increase of 4% compared with the previous 12 months. Around 40% of calls now receive clinical input, the highest it has ever been and wherever possible, the caller will have their health issue dealt with there and then over the phone by the clinician without the need to go to another NHS service. In addition NHS England has run a range of public facing marketing campaigns to inform the public about services that are available to them and to encourage them to access the right service for their needs. These campaigns are intended to help reduce pressures on the urgent and emergency care system, including A&E departments. The latest published data for January 2018 shows that the majority of patients continue to be admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours of arrival at A&E departments. NHS England and NHS Improvement published their operational planning guidance to clinical commission groups and trusts on ‘Refreshing NHS Plans for 2018/19’ on Friday 2 February. The planning guidance sets out performance expectations against the four hour standard; aggregate performance above 90% by September 2018, the majority of providers achieving 95% by March 2019, and with the whole of the NHS returning to 95% within the course of 2019.

WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on ratifying the World Health Organisation Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products.

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what preparations his Department has made for the UK ratifying the WHO Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products.

Steve Brine: HM Revenue and Customs are the lead government body working towards ratifying the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products. The Department, as custodians of the United Kingdom Government’s signature to the WHO FCTC, provides support and a policy overview on such matters to HM Revenue and Customs. The Government is fully committed to the Protocol. A Command Paper setting out the UK’s plans to ratify the World Health Organization Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products now needs to be laid before Parliament. Preparations led by HM Revenue and Customs are underway and they expect to proceed shortly.

Social Services: Training

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the availability of work place training in the care sector; and whether such training is within the remit of the Care Quality Commission.

Caroline Dinenage: It is the responsibility of social care provider organisations to ensure their employees are suitably qualified, competent, skilled and experienced. They are also responsible for ensuring their employees receive appropriate support, training and professional development, to enable them to carry out the duties they are employed to perform. The role of the Care Quality Commission (CQC) is not to assess work place training within the care sector or if the correct training provision is provided. The CQC’s remit is to understand whether or not the regulated provider can demonstrate that they have adequate numbers of appropriately skilled, competent and knowledgeable staff in place to meet the needs of those they provide a service to. Where the CQC observes or has evidence that staff are not being supported, trained or enabled to do their job safely or effectively, and determines that this has an impact on the quality and safety of care people are experiencing, it may take action.

Mast Cell Activation Syndrome

Dame Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help raise awareness among doctors so that Mast Cell Activation Syndrome is considered as an alternative differential diagnosis.

Steve Brine: The outpatient management of Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS) is within local allergy clinics, which fall within the responsibility of clinical commissioning groups. Doctors are expected to ensure their clinical knowledge remains up-to-date and to identify their ongoing learning needs as part of their continuing professional development. This activity should include taking account of new research and developments in guidance in relevant specialty areas, such as that produced by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence or the Royal Colleges, to ensure that they can continue to provide high quality care to all patients. With the aim of improving the lives of all those affected by a rare disease, of which MCAS is one, the Government is committed to implementing the UK Strategy for Rare Diseases which covers five themes: empowering those affected by rare diseases; identifying and preventing rare diseases; diagnosis and early intervention; coordination of care and the role of research. Today the UK Rare Diseases Policy Board, which oversees the implementation of the UK Strategy for Rare Diseases, published its second Progress Report describing the progress achieved over the past two years.

Mast Cell Activation Syndrome

Dame Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his Department’s policy to prioritise the production of NHS guidelines on the diagnosis of Mast Cell Activation Syndrome.

Steve Brine: Mast Cell Activation Syndrome is managed within local allergy clinics commissioned by clinical commissioning groups. A list of allergy clinics can be obtained from the British Society for Allergy and Clinical Immunology at: http://www.bsaci.org/professionals/allergy-specialists The Royal College of Physician’s Improving Quality in Allergy Services scheme at: www.rcplondon.ac.uk/projects/outputs/improving-quality-allergy-services Clinical guidelines are developed by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) or speciality based colleges and NHS England will ensure this topic is raised with NICE in relation to their consideration of future topics.

Mast Cell Activation Syndrome

Dame Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which (a) adult and (b) paediatric NHS hospitals receive Mast Cell Activation Syndrome patients with a GP referral.

Steve Brine: Care for patients with Mast Cell Activation Syndrome in an outpatient setting is provided by local allergy clinics, available in most hospitals. These services are commissioned locally by clinical commissioning groups. A list of allergy clinics can be obtained from the British Society for Allergy and Clinical Immunology at: http://www.bsaci.org/professionals/allergy-specialists The Royal College of Physician’s Improving Quality in Allergy Services scheme: www.rcplondon.ac.uk/projects/outputs/improving-quality-allergy-services

Mast Cell Activation Syndrome

Dame Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether tests for mast cell activation markers, completed by the Protein Reference Unit Lab in Sheffield, are available on the NHS.

Steve Brine: A number of standard tests relevant to patients being cared for in allergy clinics are available at most hospitals. Mast cell activation marker tests are not standard tests within the National Health Service and are ordered by individual NHS clinicians using local procedures based on the assessment of individual cases. The expertise required to investigate and manage the allergic symptoms experienced exists within allergy clinics provided by the NHS. A list of allergy clinics can be obtained from the British Society for Allergy and Clinical Immunology at: http://www.bsaci.org/professionals/allergy-specialists The Royal College of Physician’s Improving Quality in Allergy Services scheme at: www.rcplondon.ac.uk/projects/outputs/improving-quality-allergy-services

Prescription Drugs: Additives

Dame Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure access to compounded medications including antihistamines are free of (a) colourings and (b) preservatives.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Anti-histamines are generally available over-the-counter. Often there are several brands available and it is usually possible to select a colour-free brand or avoid an additive of concern. If an additive can cause allergic reactions or has other known effects it must be named on the outer label of the product as well as included in the list of ingredients stated in the Patient Information Leaflet (PIL). Information about the ingredients used in medicines is available on the website of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) at the following link: www.mhra.gov.uk/spc-pil/ Access to the PIL for medicines licensed in the United Kingdom and the list of ingredients in full is available using the link. Alternatively, patients or healthcare professionals may wish to contact the MHRA to ask whether products free from a particular ingredient have a marketing authorisation and identify the authorisation holder. Although colours may be considered unnecessary they can help to prevent medication errors by assisting the differentiation between products, especially when they are placed in multi-compartment compliance aids. All colourings permitted for use in medicines are also permitted for use in foods and allergic reactions to them are extremely rare and usually mild. It is a requirement that the warning “may cause allergic reaction” is in the PIL of medicines when azo colouring agents are used although it is accepted that patients cannot always choose whether or not to use a particular medicine. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) issued guidance in 2008 and 2013 which discourages the use of colourings with allergenic or toxicological potential in new medicines for children and as more new medicines are licensed the number of colour–free medicines available for children should increase. Concerns in relation to the more general inclusion colours in medicines have been raised by the MHRA at European level, most recently in November 2017. The MHRA is continuing to work with the EMA to develop further guidance in this area and is leading in the preparation of new guidance on warnings in relation to azo colours and is also involved in initiatives aimed at increasing the availability of colour-free products. Liquid medicines, such as anti-histamines intended for children, need to last for many months to enable their distribution through the supply chain and be kept in the home ready for the occasion when they are needed. This would be impossible without the use of preservatives preventing microbiological spoilage and the risks this would pose to patients. As a consequence of this, the use of preservatives is necessary in such medicines. Alternatives to preservatives such as syrup based medicines or use of alcohols are also unsuitable for, or are not favoured by, a number of patients.

Medicine: Education

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effect of the expansion of medical school places on the number of doctors entering general practice.

Steve Brine: The historic 1,500 increase in the number of medical school training places at English universities aims to boost numbers entering general practice training. The first 500 places have been allocated by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) to existing medical schools and places will be available from September 2018. The remaining 1,000 places will be allocated through a competitive bidding process currently being undertaken by HEFCE and Health Education England. The bidding criteria include a focus on supporting general practice and other priority specialties. The bids are currently being assessed with the outcome and allocation of places to be announced in the spring. These additional places will be available to students from September 2019.

Pancreatic Cancer: Screening

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the NHS has the capacity to offer people with suspected pancreatic cancer an FDG-PET/CT scan, as recommended in the recent NICE guideline, Pancreatic cancer in adults: diagnosis and management.

Steve Brine: In 2015, NHS England completed a Phase I procurement of positron emission tomography–computed tomography (PET-CT) services. This procurement secured a £87 million investment in PET-CT services and installation of new scanners in over 30 sites across England. NHS England is currently in the process of procuring services for Phase II of this programme which were not part of the first phase of procurement. Two of the aims of this procurement are to secure services that are high-quality and offer value for money and ensure there is sufficient capacity to meet future needs. NHS England already commissions the use of fludeoxyglucose (FDG) PET-CT in the management of both metastatic and recurrent pancreatic disease. Work is underway by the Cancer Diagnostics Clinical Reference Group to review alignment of our current clinical commissioning policy and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance on pancreatic cancer; this work is expected to be completed by the Cancer Diagnostics Clinical Reference Group by the end of March 2018. Should there be a need to review our clinical commissioning policy for FDG PET-CT for pancreatic cancer as a result of the guideline, this would be subject to NHS England’s standard operating protocols and procedures.

Patients: Death

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidelines his Department has in place for medical staff dealing with hospital deaths where the deceased has requested to be preserved using cryonics.

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will amend the draft Human Tissue (Quality and Safety for Human Application) (Amendment) Regulations 2018 to include the regulation of cryopreservation of (a) complete bodies and (b) heads.

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his policy to bring forward legislative proposals for the regulation by the Human Tissue Authority on the removal of (a) bodies and (b) heads for cryopreservation.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Department has not issued guidance to medical staff dealing with hospital deaths where the deceased has requested to be preserved using cryogenics. There are no current plans to amend the Human Tissue Act or bring forward legislative proposals in this area.

Spectacles: Voucher Schemes

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will extend the NHS optical voucher scheme to cover the cost of tinted lenses for children with dyslexia.

Steve Brine: Where an optician prescribes lenses, including tinted lenses, eligible patients receive vouchers to help with the cost of glasses. This would include children with defects of sight who also have dyslexia. Help with the cost of glasses however is only available where lenses have been prescribed to correct a defect of sight and there are no plans to change this.

Hospitals: Consultants

Mr Ben Bradshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what short-term steps his Department is taking to tackle the shortage of consultants.

Stephen Barclay: The most recent NHS Digital workforce statistics (for October 2017) show the number of consultants working in the National Health Service has increased by 28% since May 2010, with numbers at record levels. The Government currently funds over 6,000 medical school places in England each year. In addition, the Government has also committed to funding 1,500 more medical school places from 2019 at medical schools in England for domestic students to ensure we can train more doctors to meet the future need of our citizens as part of the historic medical expansion. ‘Facing the Facts – Shaping the Future – a draft health and care workforce strategy for England to 2027’ sets out actions being taken to ensure sufficient supply of doctors across all grades and specialties. This includes working with a range of Royal Colleges and provider organisations to identify and support senior medical staff recruitment from European Economic Area (EEA) and non-EEA countries, and reforming postgraduate medical education to better support the development of the doctors of tomorrow. NHS Improvement provides Health Education England with support which includes looking at geographical variations in the number of doctors per head of population and correlating this to outcomes for selected specialties, and more efficient utilisation of consultants through e-rostering and job planning. Locally, responsibility for staffing levels, including the consultant workforce, rests with individual NHS trusts and their boards who are best placed to decide how many staff they need to provide a given service.

General Practitioners: Migrant Workers

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many medical practitioners have been refused a Tier 2 (General) Certificate of Sponsorship since November 2017 due to the annual cap of 20,700; and what assessment he has made of the effect of those refusals on (a) levels of patient-facing activity and (b)  locum costs.

Stephen Barclay: The Department does not hold information on the number of medical practitioners refused a Tier 2 (General) Certificate of Sponsorship centrally. The Department continues to monitor and analyse overall staffing levels across the National Health Service and adult social care in addition to trust spending on agency staff. We work across Government to ensure there will continue to be sufficient staff to deliver safe, high quality, efficient services on which patients rely.

Colorectal Cancer: Screening

Stephen Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether a decision has been reached on the sensitivity threshold for the faecal immunochemical test when it is introduced into the bowel cancer screening programme due to be implemented in April 2018; and if he will make a statement.

Steve Brine: A decision is expected to be made in 2018/19 on the sensitivity threshold for the faecal immunochemical test (FIT) on its introduction to the bowel cancer screening programme. NHS England remains committed to the implementation of FIT testing within the NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme from 2018. During 2018, NHS England will finalise a number of practical steps to ensure when FIT is implemented it is sustainable. These steps include: working with Public Health England who will be ensuring that the practical arrangements for managing the production and distribution of FIT kits are in place and working with local providers to ensure sufficient workforce capacity is in place to deliver FIT and save lives.

Department of Health and Social Care: Fairtrade Initiative

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of his Department's spend on day-to-day goods has comprised fair trade products in each of the last eight years.

Caroline Dinenage: The Department does not hold information where day-to-day goods spend comprises a breakdown of fair trade products. This information could only be obtained by reviewing every contract through which day-to-day goods have been supplied, in each of the last eight years. To do this would incur disproportionate time and cost.

Department of Health and Social Care: Contracts

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, to which organisations his Department has outsourced functions since 2011.

Caroline Dinenage: The Department's central procurement system does not have a separate category for business process outsourcing (private companies delivering services previously provided by the public sector), nor any central means of consistently identifying outsourced services. To provide a comprehensive list would mean going back to each business area and Directorate in the Department and consulting on which of the contracts they have commissioned are to be considered to be business process outsourcing. This would incur disproportionate costs to produce.

Department of Health and Social Care: Trade Unions

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what percentage of workers employed directly by his Department belonged to a trade union in each of the last five years for which data is available.

Caroline Dinenage: The Department holds the following information presented in the table, however information is not held on those employees who chose to pay their trade union subscriptions themselves directly through direct debit to their trade union. Therefore an accurate overall percentage figure cannot be given as it does not include these employees. MonthHeadcount (Civil Servants only)Total Trade Union Subscriptions Paid Via Payroll Deductions% Of Total HeadcountJanuary-20181,51425817.0%January -20171,79656731.6%January -20162,00460930.4%January -20152,02460930.1%January -20141,92771837.3%

Department of Health and Social Care: Zero Hours Contracts

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many (a) full-time staff, (b) part-time staff, (c) temporary staff and (d) any other staff were employed directly by his Department on zero-hours contracts in each of the last eight years.

Caroline Dinenage: The Department does not employ any staff on zero hours based contracts and has not done so in each of the last eight years.

Department of Health and Social Care: Flexible Working

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what percentage of employees in his Department worked (a) in departmental accommodation, (b) from home and (c) at any other location in the most recent 12-month period for which data is available.

Caroline Dinenage: The below table shows the number and proportion of Departmental staff and the location in which they are contractually based:  HeadcountProportion of total HeadcountLeeds (Departmental Estate)50434%London (Departmental Estate)97265%Other241%  100% Notes:Figures as of 31 December 2017 (latest available information).Headcount includes all civil servants on the Department’s payroll.

Life Expectancy

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 22 January 2018 to Question 123454, what assessment he has made of the implications for his Department's policies of the decline in life expectancy in some local authority areas and the disparity in life expectancy across local authorities.

Steve Brine: We recognise that the causes of health inequalities are multi-faceted and highly complex. We take a comprehensive and strategic approach to reducing health inequalities that addresses the root social causes, promotes healthier lifestyles for all and improves the consistency of NHS services. We have taken tough action to protect the public’s health - introducing a sugar tax as part of our childhood obesity plan, standardised packaging cigarettes and a world-leading diabetes prevention programme. It will take time for these measures to have an effect, so no assessment of their impact has been made. Our commitment is demonstrated by the £16 billion we will invest over the current spending period until 2020 to support local public health services. Local authorities must consider health inequalities when investing this ring-fenced money. We have introduced transparent measurement through high level measures to reduce health inequalities in life expectancy and healthy life expectancy in the Public Health Outcomes Framework and NHS Outcomes Framework. In March 2015, we published an additional list of selected NHS Outcomes Framework indicators for which health inequalities data has been made available. Last year Public Health England (PHE) published a report entitled ‘Public Health Outcome Framework: Health Equity Report’, which provides detailed statistics on the distribution and drivers of health inequality across England, with a specific focus on ethnicity. The report is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/629563/PHOF_Health_Equity_Report.pdf PHE has published a number of statistics, evidence reports and tools to enable local government and the wider public health system to take effective action on health equity.

Mast Cell Activation Syndrome

Dame Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of allowing the use of off-label medications in the treatment of Mast Cell Activation Syndrome.

Steve Brine: We have made no such assessment. Prescribers are able to use medicinal products outside their licensed indications where they are satisfied that they best meet the individual clinical needs of their patient. This is part and parcel of normal clinical practice.

Nurses: North West

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 20 February 2018 to Question 127707, what information his Department holds on the number of nurse vacancies and in what format such information is held.

Stephen Barclay: NHS Digital publishes the number of vacancies that are advertised on NHS Jobs, the dedicated online recruitment service for the National Health Service. However, as the basis of the figures is the number of vacancies advertised for the first time in each given month, it is not possible to determine from these figures the number of vacancies live at any given point in time. The figures only cover those vacancies advertised via NHS Jobs, and it is not always possible to determine how many posts are associated with any given advertisement. The published figures are at the Health Education England region and do not go to the level of individual trusts. This data is relatively new and there is limited data to establish trends. It is also important to note the distinction between job adverts and actual vacancies as many trusts are in a constant process of recruitment with single job adverts often covering multiple job vacancies. The latest NHS Digital figures show that over 34,000 nursing and midwifery vacancies were advertised in the three months to September 2017 across England. The NHS Digital vacancy figures are available at the following link: www.digital.nhs.uk/catalogue/PUB30196NHS Jobs data from NHS Digital is not the only source of vacancy data. NHS Improvement have produced their own estimates and analysis for vacancy numbers. NHS Improvement figures represent management information only and are not an official statistic. Their data for nursing and midwifery shows that there are 35,835 full time equivalent nursing and midwifery vacancies, of these approximately 31,351 (87%) are filled by temporary staff (32% agency and 55% bank). The latest NHS Improvement vacancy figures are available at the following link: www.improvement.nhs.uk/resources/quarterly-performance-nhs-provider-sector-quarter-3-201718/

Hospitals: Parking

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 20 February 2018 to Question 127703, what information his Department holds on the level of hospital car parking charges and on what basis he decides whether the NHS has carried out its duty to ensure that charges are applied fairly.

Stephen Barclay: National Health Service car parking data including level of hospital car parking charges at NHS trusts is collected annually through Estates Return Information Collection. The latest available data for 2016-17 confirms the national average fee charges per hour for patients and visitors are £1.32 and £0.19 for staff. NHS organisations are responsible locally for their own policy on car parking, taking into account operational circumstances and community interests. The NHS patient, visitor and staff car parking principles (first published in August 2014 and then updated in October 2015), set out a nationally consistent approach to determining car parking policies, making clear the rules which NHS trusts should follow when making decisions about car parking. However, the provision of parking spaces and the level of any charges that are made to use them are matters for individual NHS trusts.

Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the timetable is for him to receive the report from the Safety of Certain Medicines and Medical Devices Review led by Baroness Cumberlege.

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to ensure that people affected by the use of Primados, Sodium Valproate and virginal mesh implants are consulted, kept informed and able to participate in Baroness Cumberledge's Review on the Safety of Certain Medicines and Medical Devices.

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to ensure that hon. Members are kept informed and are able to participate in Baroness Cumberlege's Review on the Safety of Certain Medicines and Medical Devices.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Baroness Cumberlege will conduct the Medicines and Medical Devices Review with thoroughness and due speed. Baroness Cumberlege will involve patient groups representative of people concerned by the use of Primodos, Sodium Valproate and vaginal mesh from the early stages of the Review. Baroness Cumberlege will make contact with the relevant All Party Parliamentary Groups, and in due course Ministers will report back to the House on the Review and the Government’s response.

Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to finalise the terms of reference for Baroness Cumberlege's Review into the Safety of Certain Medicines and Medical Devices.

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which people and organisations he plans to consult on the terms of reference for Baroness Cumberlege's Review on the Safety of Certain Medicines and Medical Devices.

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to ensure that women affected by taking Primados as a hormone pregnancy test are consulted about the terms of reference for Baroness Cumberlege's Review of the Safety of Certain Medicines and Medical Devices.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has asked Baroness Cumberlege to finalise the terms of reference for the Medicines and Medical Devices Review and to consult on those terms of reference with stakeholders. Baroness Cumberlege will engage with patient groups and other stakeholders throughout the course of the review. Baroness Cumberlege will also involve patient groups representative of people concerned by the use of Primodos, Sodium Valproate and vaginal mesh from the early stages of the Medicines and Medical Devices Review.

Eating Disorders

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of eating disorder (a) beds and (b) services were delivered by the private sector in each year since 2010.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Data regarding the split between the number of eating disorder beds and services delivered within the public or private sectors is not available. Children and young people with eating disorders are routinely and appropriately admitted to other types of Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) in-patient services. NHS England is currently undertaking a programme of work to redistribute CAMHS beds across the country to open beds in underserved areas of the country and strengthen integration with local pathways.

HM Treasury

Textiles: Minimum Wage

Caroline Lucas: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many HMRC minimum wage investigations were (a) opened and (b) closed in relation to an employer in the textiles sector in each of the last five years; how many of those closed investigations resulted in the identification of minimum wage arrears; what the total sum of arrears identified was in those closed cases; and how many workers in total were found to be owed arrears.

Mel Stride: The government are determined that everyone who is entitled to the National Minimum and National Living Wage (NMW) receives it. Anyone who feels they have been underpaid NMW should contact Acas helpline on 03000 123 1100. HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) review all complaints that are referred to them.In relation to the textile sector for the period 2012/13 to 2016/17, HMRC: Opened a total of 84 cases and closed 72 NMW investigations.Identified 19 cases with NMW arrears.Identified a total sum of £44,371 NMW arrears for 83 workers.

Treasury: Welsh Language

Hywel Williams: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what translation arrangements his Department has put in place to enable efficient and accurate handling of Welsh language correspondence from (a) MPs and (b) the general public.

Robert Jenrick: HM Treasury does not have a dedicated Welsh language translation unit in-house. Other Government Departments have dedicated Welsh language translation teams and translate letters from Welsh to English, and replies from English to Welsh, for HM Treasury free of charge on an ad-hoc basis.

Treasury: Tableware

Ruth Smeeth: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what proportion of his Department's tableware is made in the UK.

Ruth Smeeth: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much his Department has spent on tableware since 2015; and how much of that spending was on tableware manufactured in the UK.

Ruth Smeeth: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, from which manufacturers his Department procures its tableware.

Robert Jenrick: HM Treasury does not have this information as tableware is provided by a subcontractor.

Taxation: Cryptocurrencies

Eddie Hughes: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the potential benefits of using blockchain for (a) the tax system and (b) the customs and excise system; and if he will make a statement.

Mel Stride: HM Revenue and Customs are considering the use of blockchain alongside other technical options for both tax and customs and excise systems.

EU Countries

Kate Hoey: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if his Department will commission and publish a study on the effect on the other 27 EU countries of the withdrawal of all UK funding from March 2019 as a result of terms not being agreed between the EU Commission and the UK.

Kate Hoey: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if his Department will commission and publish a study on the amount of money which would be available to the public purse if the UK withdrew all EU funding contributions from March 2019 as a result of terms not being agreed between the EU Commission and the UK.

Elizabeth Truss: As the PM has said, the days of Britain making vast contributions to the EU every year will end. However, we will honour the commitments made during our membership, and have agreed on a fair settlement with the EU, which secures a number of principles that will ensure a good deal for UK taxpayers. The UK government is focused on working with our EU allies to reach an agreement on a comprehensive and ambitious economic partnership, and an implementation period to give people, businesses, and public services in the UK and across the EU the time they need to put in place the new arrangements that will be required.

Batteries: VAT

Alex Sobel: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the Government plans to remove VAT for batteries bought online for (a) wheelchairs, (b) mobility scooters and (c) other mobility aids; and if he will make a statement.

Mel Stride: The government recognises that disabled people should not have to pay VAT on the costs they bear in meeting their needs. The government therefore maintains VAT reliefs so that no VAT is paid on goods designed solely for disabled people, including stair lifts, specialist beds and chairs and certain medical appliances. VAT reliefs extend to wheelchairs and certain mobility scooters and, as a result, VAT is not applied to batteries when purchased as part of those goods. VAT relief also extends to purchases of batteries that are designed solely to operate in a mobility scooter or wheelchair. All VAT reliefs apply whether goods are bought online or in store.

WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps are required before the Government will ratify the World Health Organisation Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products.

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when the Government plans to ratify the World Health Organisation Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products.

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, for what reason the Government has not yet ratified the World Health Organisation Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products.

Robert Jenrick: It is UK policy that international treaties will not be ratified until all legislation required for implementation has been passed by parliament. We have now met this requirement with the introduction of legislation for the licensing of tobacco manufacturing machinery. This was included in the Finance (No 2) Act 2017 and a statutory instrument for The Tobacco Products Manufacturing Machinery (Licensing Scheme) Regulations 2018 was laid before the House of Commons on 25 January 2018. Now that legislation has been passed, the text of the Protocol can be laid before Parliament as a Command Paper with an Explanatory Memorandum. Unless Parliament resolves against it, the UK can begin the formal ratification process, which we expect to start shortly.

Revenue and Customs: Tobacco

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what joint research work has been undertaken between HMRC and the tobacco industry in (a) 2015, (b) 2016 and (c) 2017.

Robert Jenrick: HM Revenue and Customs has undertaken no joint research with the tobacco industry in these years.

Treasury: Tobacco

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many times (a) Ministers and (b) officials of his Department met with representatives from the tobacco industry in (i) 2016 and (ii) 2017; and what the topics of discussion were in each of those meetings.

Robert Jenrick: Treasury ministers and officials engage with a wide range of stakeholders, and details of Ministerial meetings are published in the Department’s Quarterly Transparency Return on GOV.UK. Details of policy meetings between HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and the tobacco industry are also published on GOV.UK. HMRC does not provide details of meetings with individual tobacco manufacturers to discuss their tax affairs or those concerning information to support HMRC’s enforcement activities.

Excise Duties

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what research his Department has undertaken on the potential effect of introducing track and trace technology on reducing the amount of lost excise duty on (a) tobacco, (b) beer, (c) wine and (d) spirits.

Robert Jenrick: HM Revenue & Customs continues to explore how technology, including track and trace systems could improve taxpayer compliance and help tackle the illicit trade in excise goods. HM Revenue and Customs has conducted no formal research into the potential effect of track and track systems on reducing the amount of lost excise duty. However, the European Commission published an assessment of the impact of implementation of a track and trace system for tobacco products across the EU at: https://ec.europa.eu/health/sites/health/files/tobacco/docs/2015_tpd_tracking_tracing_frep_en.pdf In November 2017, the UK voted to adopt EU regulations for the introduction of a pan-European track and trace system for tobacco products - a requirement of the EU Tobacco Products Directive 2014. This system will also meet the requirements of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Illicit Trade Protocol, to which the UK is a signatory. The aim of the Protocol is to protect public health and includes the creation of a global tracking system to secure the supply chain for tobacco products.

Treasury: Publications

Mr Nigel Evans: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 7 February 2018 to Question 125741, on Economic Situation, what the average cost was of publishing other Treasury publications over the last three years.

John Glen: The average costs for printing Treasury publications over the last three years were £13,825; £7,546 and £12,445 for the calendar years 2015, 2016 and 2017 respectively.

Small Businesses: Taxation

Julian Sturdy: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of changes to IR35 regulations on small businesses.

Mel Stride: The off-payroll working rules (sometimes known as IR35), do not affect small business owners who are genuinely self-employed. Individuals are only affected by the rules if they would be employees if engaged directly. The rules were reformed in April 2017 for public sector engagements to address widespread non-compliance. The reform only affects public sector bodies and the agencies or other third parties, who provide labour for the public sector. The government is evaluating the impact of the public sector reform, including through externally commissioned independent research, which is due to be published this year.

Cryptocurrencies

Steve McCabe: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department plans to issue guidance on the use of crypto-currencies to the general public.

Steve McCabe: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential effect on the economy of crypto-currencies.

John Glen: The Government recognises the significant benefits that digital currencies and the related technology could bring, as well as potential challenges. The Government has not made any formal assessment of the potential effect on the economy of cryptocurrencies, but is monitoring the situation.The Government has no plans at this time to issue guidance on the use of cryptocurrencies.

Unemployment

Catherine McKinnell: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the reasons for the increase in (a) unemployment overall and (b) the number of unemployed women recorded in the figures from the Office for National Statistics published in February 2018.

Elizabeth Truss: The long-term trends in the labour market are clear: since 2010, total unemployment has fallen by one million, and unemployment for women has fallen by 0.3 million. Alongside this, female employment has risen by around 1.5 million, and total employment has increased by 3 million.

Employment: Females

Catherine McKinnell: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 20 February to Question 127468 on employment: females, what the short and long-term factors associated with the overall economic costs and benefits of parents moving into work are.

Elizabeth Truss: We recognise that parents are best placed to decide how to care for their children, and how best to balance childcare and work. The government is committed to supporting parents with the costs of childcare, which is why by 2020 this Government will be spending a record amount – around £6bn a year on childcare support. Key factors associated with the economic costs and benefits of parents moving into work are likely to include the cost of childcare, parental earnings and the developmental benefits of childcare.

Cryptocurrencies

Norman Lamb: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the Government plans to recognise digital currencies as (a) legal tender and (b) as a financial instrument.

John Glen: The Government currently has no plans to recognise digital currencies as legal tender or to propose designating them as financial instruments.

Cabinet Office

One Public Estate Programme

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet, how many people are in the One Public Estate programme's Pool of Experts; from which parent teams in the Civil Service those people have come; and for each such team which of its members of the Pool of Experts have (a) master planning, (b) feasibility studies, (c) options appraisals, (d) surveyors, (e) design and (f) procurement expertise.

Oliver Dowden: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 27 February 2018.The correct answer should have been:

The One Public Estate (OPE) programme is establishing a Pool of Experts to support local OPE partnerships to deliver property-based projects. At present, 23 experts have been accepted into the Pool, as set out below.SpecialismExpertsMasterplanning2Feasibility and Options Appraisals2Surveying (Building) (Chartered) (Quantity) 10 (8) (2) (0)Project Management9Design0Procurement0Total (to date)23 The programme’s selection process is still underway. In addition to the 23 appointed, a further 35 are going through the application process. Recruitment has been marketed externally and no experts are currently Civil Servants.

Oliver Dowden: The One Public Estate (OPE) programme is establishing a Pool of Experts to support local OPE partnerships to deliver property-based projects. At present, 23 experts have been accepted into the Pool, as set out below.SpecialismExpertsMasterplanning2Feasibility and Options Appraisals2Surveying (Building) (Chartered) (Quantity) 10 (8) (2) (0)Project Management9Design0Procurement0Total (to date)23 The programme’s selection process is still underway. In addition to the 23 appointed, a further 35 are going through the application process. Recruitment has been marketed externally and no experts are currently Civil Servants.

Land: Databases

Eddie Hughes: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what progress his Department has made on creating a comprehensive geospatial data body to provide open land data.

Mr David Lidington: The Autumn Budget 2017 announced that the government will establish a new Geospatial Commission to maximise the growth of the digital economy and provide strategic oversight for the public bodies that hold geospatial data. An update on the establishment of the Commission will be provided in due course.

Department for International Trade

Department for International Trade: Welsh Language

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what translation arrangements his Department has put in place to enable efficient and accurate handling of Welsh language correspondence from (a) MPs and (b) the general public.

Greg Hands: To date, the department has not received any correspondence in welsh. However, we are committed to dealing with all correspondence efficiently and accurately and would seek advice from the Wales Office on a case by case basis to handle Welsh language correspondence from MPs and the general public.

Customs

Jo Platt: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, with reference to paragraph four of Future customs arrangements: a future partnership paper, published by the Government on 15 August 2017, whether his Department has conducted an impact assessment of the two options proposed in that paragraph.

Greg Hands: I refer the Hon. Member to the answer given by my Hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union on 27 February 2018, UIN: 129107.

Overseas Trade

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, with reference to the oral contribution of the Minister for Trade Policy of 22 February 2018, Official Report, column 308, what the timescale is for the discussions on replicating the institutions that currently oversee the trading relationships between the UK through its membership of the EU and third countries.

Greg Hands: As previously stated by my Hon. Friend the Member for Wycombe and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Exiting the European Union in response to a similar question (IUN: 126627), we believe the effects of existing international agreements to which we are a party, should continue to apply during the Implementation Period. We are working with partner countries on the detail of this.We will continue to work with partner countries to agree how best to ensure continuity beyond the Implementation Period.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Radio: Wales

Ben Lake: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the effect his Department’s consultation on the deregulation of radio on the availability of Welsh-specific content in radio in Wales.

Margot James: While we consulted on a number of areas in the consultation, the primary focus of deregulating the commercial radio sector is to give service providers more freedom to run their businesses in the way that best suits them. Although removing out-dated regulations will be welcome to many service providers, there will be no obligation for stations to change the way they currently operate. We do not expect the proposals to negatively impact the nations, including with regards to Welsh-specific content.

Charity Commission: Public Appointments

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions (a) the Permanent Secretary, (b) Ministers and (c) special advisers of his Department have had with the Prime Minister on the appointment of the Chair of the Charity Commission.

Tracey Crouch: Ministers have regular discussions with Cabinet colleagues across government to discuss a range of issues.

Mental Health: Technology

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment he has made of the role of technology in helping people who are socially isolated.

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the effect of social isolation on mental health.

Tracey Crouch: This government is committed to working with the Jo Cox Commission, charities and businesses to create a government wide strategy that tackles loneliness.Part of this work will review the evidence-base, including the groups affected, the causes and impact of loneliness on individuals and communities, and what works to reduce loneliness. Technology definitely has a role to play and we will consider this as part of the work.

Youth Social Action Review

Michael Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, when he plans to respond to the recommendations made by the Independent Review of Full-Time Social Action.

Tracey Crouch: I refer the hon member to the answer to WPQ 127914 answered on 22nd February.

Nutrition

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what role his Department plans to play in the adoption of the updated Nutrient Profile Model due for issue during 2018.

Margot James: The Department is working closely with the Department of Health and Social Care as the lead department on the development of the updated Nutrient Profile Model, which will be put forward for public consultation shortly. The adoption of the model is a matter for Ofcom and the Advertising Standards Authority.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport: Welsh Language

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what translation arrangements his Department has put in place to enable efficient and accurate handling of Welsh language correspondence from (a) MPs and (b) the general public.

Margot James: The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport receives very low numbers of correspondence in Welsh. Because of the low numbers involved, the Department uses an external translation service on an ad-hoc basis when we receive any such correspondence. The Department's commitment to answering Welsh correspondence, in the language that it is written, is the same as for correspondence written in English. That is, within 20 working days of receipt.

Museums and Galleries: West Midlands

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the level of public funding for museums in (a) the West Midlands and (b) Coventry.

Michael Ellis: The recently published Mendoza Review of museums in England found that public funding to museums and galleries in England has totalled over £8.4 billion in the past decade. Museums receive public funding from a variety of sources, including Arts Council England (ACE), Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), local authorities and others, as well as benefiting from a range of tax reliefs and grants. It is therefore not possible to provide a comprehensive breakdown of public funding for museums in the region. Arts Council England, the funding body with responsibility for museums, announced its 2018-2022 National Portfolio Organisations funding in summer 2017. Ten museums bodies will be funded in the West Midlands, with five receiving ongoing core funding for the first time. Overall, the West Midlands will receive £16 Million between 2018 and 2022, an increase of 82% from the 2015-18 funding round. Culture Coventry is one of the newly-funded organisations and will receive £1.6 Million over four years, including in Coventry’s UK City of Culture year 2021, to support Coventry Transport Museum and the Herbert Art Gallery & Museum. West Midlands museums have also benefited from Heritage Lottery Funding, for example £9.8 Million announced in summer 2017 for the Black Country Living Museum, and £3 Million to support Coventry projects for UK City of Culture.

House of Commons Commission

Parliamentary Estate: Plastics

David Linden: To ask the right hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington, representing the House of Commons Commission, pursuant to the Answer of 20 February 2018 to Question 127548, on Parliamentary Estate: Plastics, whether the needs of people with disabilities are being assessed as part of the on-going review into the sustainability and environmental management of single-use disposable plastics in the House of Commons.

Tom Brake: In line with House policy, equality analyses are being undertaken as part of the on-going review into the sustainability and environmental management of single-use disposable plastics in the House of Commons.This includes the needs of people with disabilities.

Women and Equalities

Access to Elected Office for Disabled People Fund

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, pursuant to the Answer of 6 February to Question 125982 with reference to the Equality and Human Rights Commission's recommendation that the Government reopen the Access to Elected Office Fund, what support she provides for people with disabilities who are seeking elected office.

Victoria Atkins: The Equality Act 2010 provides a number of protections for disabled people in situations including employment, education and the provision of goods and services.Political parties are within the scope of the Act. They must make reasonable adjustments for disabled people to ensure that they are not put at a significant disadvantage in accessing membership, and associated rights and benefits when compared to people without disabilities.This duty means that political parties are required to provide reasonable additional support to disabled candidates to ensure, so far as possible, that they have the same access as non-disabled candidates.The Equality and Human Rights Commission has recently launched a guide for political parties on their responsibilities under Equality Act 2010, which provides further information on their legal responsibilities. A link is below:https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/publication-download/equality-act-2010-guide-political-partiesThe Local Government Association has guidance on how disabled people can become councillors, a link to which is below:https://www.local.gov.uk/sites/default/files/documents/be-councillor-guide-disab-e85.pdf

Universal Credit

Dawn Butler: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on the effect of the roll-out universal credit on (a) women and (b) BME women.

Victoria Atkins: I have not yet had the opportunity to discuss these matters with my Rt. Hon Friend, but I look forward to covering these matters with my Ministerial colleagues soon.It is important that women, including BME women, have opportunities to enter employment and to progress in work. The introduction of Universal Credit helps to support people who are in work to progress their earnings, and is designed to ensure that it is always worth working by allowing people to keep more of their benefit in the transitional period back to work. The Government will monitor employment rates and the BME employment gap quarterly.